FYI, TS

Several settings on the Teamspeak Server have been changed. It is now in "stealth" mode. Please report any problems encountered in the comments and they will be addressed as soon as possible. The script kiddies are now hammering away at the Admin password with a brute force attack. The password is being changed on a daily basis and is over 20 characters long. As soon as it is affordable the primary router will be changed. The VPN firewalled one that I have in stock is on the fritz. This is taking up too much of my time, but the present firewall is relentlessly hunting down IPs so I will prosecute. There is simply no need for another human being to put someone under duress for their own evil pleasure. Yes, if given the chance I will bust their asses!

It's late, I'm tired. Good night.

Ready for St. Patrick's Day?

St. Paddy's Day approaches. This is one of my favorite holidays. There's NO gift giving, everyone Irish and non-Irish seem to embrace it, green is my favorite color and people wear a lot of green on this day. Some folks cook traditional Irish dishes. Love the green beer and WikiHow has a great article and super video about this simple process. What fun! A favorite dish is Colcannon (beach house version uses extra shallots, scallions, bacon and ham). Beef and Guinness Stew is a great alternative to Traditional Irish Stew. Be sure and have plenty of bread and butter on hand. Be festive, eat good and drink responsibly. DON'T DRIVE DRUNK! Since this is a week night, Tuesday, start early. Get with family and friends. Enjoy and embrace the Irish. Playin' a bit o' the Celtic Woman, Van Morrison, Chieftains or U2 in the backround won't hurt either!

"May luck be our companion
May friends stand by our side
May history remind us all
Of Ireland's faith and pride.
May God bless us with happiness
May love and faith abide."
~Irish Blessing

Twit or a Tweet? Hep Me!

Just signed up for Twitter. Working on Google Voice too. Still not ready for Facebook or Myspace. Twitter may be a mistake. We'll see. Simple enough sign up and will keep you posted on whether it is K or not. Spent better part of an hour trying to make Google Latitudes work on my mobile phone. This helps people track my whereabouts - if I so desire their tracking my whereabouts. My cellphone is 5 years old and may not support Latitudes. You have to text a lot to set it up. Frankly I dislike texting as much as printers, the devil and idiot terrorists. Make the phones twice as big and my fat fingertips just might work. Besides, you spend all that time punching stuff in when a simple phone call will take half the time. I didn't realize so many people just don't like hearing my voice. Suit yourself. 'Cause I ain't calling you unless it's urgent. K that's my rant for the day so this day is shaping up nicely considering this content.

Have a casual Thursday.

“If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?”
~Stephen Levine quotes

Styx Wrote a Song About It, "Too Much Time on My Hands"

The Teamspeak Web Server is back online. A new firewall has been installed. The possibility of tracing the 'barnyard material script kiddies' that are using a non-effective brute force attack on this server has been improved. Why would someone want to hack a non-essential server that provides free communication services to internet users? Go figure. If they want the data that exists on the drive I'll copy what little is there and give it to their silly asses! Truly these people are examples of why the word idiot exists in the dictionary. If my trap works, I will prosecute. It'll also be hard to keep from jumping up and down with glee when I see the looks on their smarmy parents' faces. A real hacker will not waste time with a server of this type.

All the user names, passwords, etc. remain the same. Let me know if you have any trouble.

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
~Douglas Adams

Sorry for the Teamspeak Interrupt

Dudettes, Dudes, Nerds and Geeks. Most humble apologies. Teamspeak will be offline until tomorrow late. Changes are being made and please bear with me. It'll be back up and better. Sometimes it takes time to improve this cyber-techno thangy. Please be patient. It'll rock!

Calmer Waters at the Beach House

Okay, let me back up from some of the things mentioned in yesterday's post. If you like ATI Radeon cards by all means buy them. They make a good product. I was irritated because they had FUBARed the Nvidia drivers. On two different machines. And the card I tested is back on the table to buy because it is a huge bang for the buck when it comes to a machine with an AGP slot instead of PCIe. Sorry about my frustration. Am still mega Nvidia fan, but nothing is wrong with ATI. Am over it. So please don't flame me about this comparsion. They are both great manufacturers and each has their benefits.

It's Monday and a new day is dawning. Returning to work. Hang in there, Monday will pass too. The Good Lord willin'...

"If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake."
~F. Wikzek

Nerd Alert! Beware the Tomfoolery of AMD

Here's a very good piece of advice. If you use Nvidia graphics controllers and decide to temporarily use an ATI, back up all valuable data. This will help you when you format and reinstall your operating system. Yep. That's right. After taking out an Asus ATI card being tested (it's an awesome 512meg AGP whamma jamma) then replacing it with the Nvidia that was originally in the machine, things went berserk. None of the controls for the Nvidia worked. Even after over 100 manual registry edits. Wasted a day yesterday trying to correct the problem and finally reinstalled XP to make it work properly.

The Asus ATI card is possibly the best card ever for an AGP equipped machine. Phenomenal graphics and games like crazy. But, a BIG BUT, I think the AMD (they own ATI) people are complete horses' asses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They literally sabotage your machine in an effort to keep you from switching back to Nvidia. Really don't think Asus had anything to do with it since ATI/AMD is the GPU manufacturer. I will damn sure think twice before buying another product from AMD. Forgot to mention this is the second machine in the past week that has had this problem. Actually, I was going to order one of these very video cards this week for my AGP gaming machine. Not gonna' happen!

In all fairness I must admit the ATI/AMD cards are excellent performers. Just stick with them or be ready to do a complete reinstall if switching to Nvidia. Yesterday was wasted and I don't appreciate them taking a day out of my wayyy behind schedule life. BTW, the beach house has never seen Nvidia cards or drivers pull such shenanigans. No wonder AMD is losing its market share at the speed of light.

You are most welcome to disagree or agree. Use the comments. If anyone knows of a 'fix' for this problem please share with us.

"How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on."
~Zall's Second Law

Securing the Network

Teamspeak clients; there will be brief interruptions this afternoon as a more secure router is put in place. The script kiddies are using a third brute force attack and are generally irritating. The VPN hardware firewalled router should stop this nonsense. What little jerks. If I can get past their bounces and elementary voodoo it may be time for Mr. Policeman to talk to script kiddies' parents. Hopefully you may not even experience the downtime. No need to call and inform me it's down - I'll be standing right over it.

Am looking at some uber gaming machines that will be featured in the near future. Most of us build our own. Am in the process of putting together the dual Opteron gamer and hope to have my Antec 900 series case running with an ultimate Intel CPU and SLI by mid summer. So close, yet experiencing the financial strain that seems to be taking its toll on most of us. Pray for our country. Pray that the Democrats and Republicans will put aside their goofy ass differences and work to improve the American Way.

Have a casual Saturday.

"No man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions."
~Henry Ward Beecher

Anti-Virus News

For some time now AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition has had intermittent problems updating. This also seems to be random. Some machines are working perfectly. Others are having problems almost daily. Well, this has been a great program down through the years. I remember they had update problems when version 7 was issued. Well, there's a new version that was released earlier this week. It is version 8.5. Please uninstall version 8.0 if you decide to upgrade.

Great place to download this program is MajorGeeks. There's a list to the left and you need to click on Anti-Virus. A new window will appear where you scroll down to AVG Free Edition. After opening this window download it from the Florida server that is at the bottom of the list. Why? It's the fastest server of the four listed. Then BE PATIENT. Don't click on the next page until the gray download box appears. Again, do not click on anything until the gray box appears. This is important. DON'T get in a hurry and download Spyware Doctor. You don't need it. It's on the splash screen where the gray download box will appear after a few seconds. Click on save and after it downloads open the program and follow directions. Don't install that stupid, unnecessary toolbar they offer. Just uncheck the box. Please remember that you download at your own risk and the beach house will not be responsible for problems, TARFUs or FUBARS. Here are some pixs with the appropriate places to click highlighted with white rectangles. Clicking on the pictures will expand them.









Hope this helps!

"To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties of friendship."
~Dr. Samuel Johnson

Super Phone Call, Not So Super Phone & Great Buys!

Got a phone call from Verdana/Kristi last night. She was in good spirits. The baby is fine and Mother is experiencing some discomfort, but like I said in good spirits. Hey, she just had a baby last week! They have been up at night since Riley has decided that's the best time to eat. It will pass. When Verdana was that age she did the same thing. Glad she has a good support team around her. Daddy Uncle Snake and his mother-in-law (my ex) have been most helpful and Verdana bragged about it. Mal seems to be on the road to accepting little sister which is good. Less than two years difference in their ages will likely make them great friends. I think all this is so kewl!

Speaking of phone calls, my dependable Razr, age 4, is on its last leg. Am switching it out with the spare this morning. Missed phone calls are horrible. Anyone have models to suggest? Sure could use some advice. I really want a Razr V9, but it is out of my price range. Using AT&T as carrier so the variety of phone types is numerous. Still want that V9. Any advice, websites, ideas will be most welcome. TY out to Beagle, Verdana and Mudslingr for keeping me phoned up during the past years. You guys have really helped my big fingered, not able to text, bluetooth earset dependent, lardbutt stay connected. Grasshoppa says, "Bluetooth earsets look like plastic cockroaches." LOL.

Oh yeh, Mudslingr has a nice pair of Nvidia 7 series video cards for sale. He also has two 8 port switches, one which is a DLink that's like new. Very reasonable prices. Ashby dropped off a pair of Nvidia 7900s at the beach house. They are for sale too. Mud also has a server for sale at a reasonable price. He recently upgraded his network and I know the condition of all this equipment is top notch. These guys are geeks and us nerds take care of our equipment. Again, the prices are really reasonable. Comment or email me. Now if I can just get back on track about taking care of the beach house with that 'geek care' attitude.

Enjoy Thursday. Local weather is awesome. Spring is here me hopes. Just think tomorrow will be Friday. That always means there's only 2 more days to work this week!

"Recommend virtue to your children; it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience."
~Ludwig van Beethoven

Recession Era Computer? NOT!!!

Ever seen a $16,338.89 computer? Take a look at the two pictures included in this post. You can go to Tom's Hardware and see a 25 page detailed article about how it was assembled. This thing has 16 cores and 32gigs of ECC RAM. Yes those are 9 external cooling fans on the right side. Of course there is massive water cooling involved. It is running Windows Server 2008 Standard and has multiple hard drives utilizing both RAID 1 and RAID 5. The case is a Coolermaster. Sorry, if I had this machine there's NO way it would run as a server. Chunk the ECC RAM, load up 32gigs of standard RAM then download and play Guild Wars! Of course if I had enough money to build this machine the whole selection at iTunes would be on it too. Then build a room just to house this unit with a 65" monitor. Home Theater type seats would be needed. Yes, that's it! That''s the ticket! And I'd have my wife, Morgan Fairchild, promise to keep her sticky fingers off of it!!! LOL! Amazing machine.

"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim."
~E. W. Dijkstra

Mathematical Indulgences and "Pigs" in Space

It's Square Root Day. Just click on the link. The next one will be 4/4/16. Pi Day is March 14 (3.14). Please remember to walk in a circle at least once on this day. Beware the day after the 14th. If you see a group of Italians dressed in white robes carrying knives, run like hell. It is with great hope at the beach house that this valuable information will aid or abet someone out there in the Real World (insert evil-grin here). So the soothsayer say...

We had a near miss by an asteroid yesterday. Named 2009 DD45, the space rock passed by the earth at an altitude of 40,000 miles. Folks this is only 1/7 of the distance to the moon. It appears to be 200 feet wide and was only discovered by Australian astronomers this past Friday! Read more over at Crikey. If we are prepared I think we have the firepower to knock out an object this size. If we are prepared. Shucks, this is just a small one compared to Apophis which will make its next appearance in 2012. I certainly hope we have some type of asteroid killer launch platform in place when it shows up (no evil-grin inserted here, for sure).

Hey, if you didn't watch the The Muppets TV Show the last part of the title may be confusing. Remember Miss Piggy who starred as First Mate Piggy? One of her better roles IMHO. How about Captain Link Hogthrob. Or Dr. Julius Strangepork? Anyone remember the name of their starship?

"We could use up two Eternities in learning all that is to be learned about our own world and the thousands of nations that have arisen and flourished and vanished from it. Mathematics alone would occupy me eight million years."
~Mark Twain

Catching Up

How's the back problem?

Nice of folks to ask. I was better until I got home yesterday and tried to move a workbench. Did meds yesterday and it is slightly sore this morning. If necessary, driving is possible and service calls are great if they don't involve lifting. For some reason driving doesn't bother me. Getting in and out of the truck can be worrisome.

Did you ever get the beach house organized?

No. Still looks like a pig sty. Working on it. Back pain dictates to some degree.

Info on the new baby?

Received by text a photo and she seems very cute. My youngest daughter was emailed a series of photos that I just viewed and she is a doll. Jay posted a brief message on Kristi's blog so I know how much she weighed (6 lbs 9.8 oz) and her height (18.5"). Kristi has her hands full and will call when she has time to talk. She did go home Thursday and I think visitors have taken most of her time. I am not worried, but it'll be nice to hear her voice. I am planning a trip in a few months.

Ever get that new Vista machine completed?

It's close to completion. Other PCs have needed attention and I made a self-promise that I'd have the beach house in shape before I finished it.

How's the new monitor?

Great! Shouldn't have spent the money in these hard times, but it's nice to be able to see without wearing spectacles. Headaches are not as frequent.

Has your lardbutt lost any weight?

Yes. I've lost 23 lbs. and should be on target for the next checkup. Not exercising enough, but the weather should change in a few days. Let's hope spring will come early.

"Establishing goals is all right if you don't let them deprive you of interesting detours."
~Doug Larson

Tracks in the Snow

With a miserable back and some PC equipment the mighty beach house truck rolled out to spend Saturday night with my friends at the lake, David and Michelle. It was a nice easy visit filled with laughter, great conversation, great music, and awesome food. What better than a shrimp boil on a snowy evening?!?!?! And it's hard to beat a great night's sleep in the country. Back sure feels better.

Rarely do I get to slip away. They needed some computer aid and we accomplished most of it. Still have a video card that needs some further training. They have cats and dogs and I thought this picture captured the essence of the area. Please forgive my ancient phone with its ancient camera. The picture will expand if you click on it. Gosh what a nice place to hide for a few hours. Thanks! I needed it.

"To insult someone we call him "bestial." For deliberate cruelty and nature, "human" might be the greater insult."
~Isaac Asimov

Rest of the Story

Paul Harvey passed away today at the age of 90. He was preceded in death by his wife, Angel, who passed in May 2008. They married in 1940 and she was a major influence in his career. She was also the first producer inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

In this trying time of economic recovery his observations will be missed. His candor, great use of the dramatic pause, variety of material and many more things made him a master of reporting. We shall miss him and his signature sign off, "Good day."



"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me.
The Carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality"
~Emily Dickinson

Great Site for Children

The How-To-Geek never ceases to amaze me. He produces great info about a variety of subjects concerning technology. The latest post may be one of his best. All the time I am asked, "What is a good site for children?" Travel on over to the HT Geek's site and learn about KidZui. This looks really great and really SAFE. Plenty of parental control and appears to be a secure harbor. Hey, your nerdling needs some place to socialize and have fun on the web!

They are taking precaution to keep the perverts away. Anyone that would abuse a child will spend eternity in the lowest depths of hell. Man, I had fun growing up in a safe environment, but that was when you could see dinosaurs out the cave window. Today there are too many sickos loose so make sure your children are protected at all times. This includes the web.

BTW, don't interpret any of this as a request. I stopped a woman years ago from abusing a child in a grocery store and she came after me physically: With a knife pulled from her purse. Tickled the hell out of me watching the police put her fat ass in that police car. She had slapped a seven year old so hard his nose bled. He'd been knocked into a shelf of canned goods. Just couldn't stand by. It was all I could do to keep from putting her ass on the deck. But the police did a fine job of getting her down on the hard, cold, tile. When they saw the little boy I could see rage in their eyes. This bitch needed to receive wayyyyy more than they doled out. Hope that child has found a better life. Still pray for him from time to time. Yes, I cried along with him as the paramedics stopped the bleeding.

Enough rambling for one night. And hey, if you had been there you'd realize this was definitely not an ego thing...necessity has mothered more than invention.

"It is never too late to have a happy childhood."
~Tom Robbins

Building A Machine

Often I am asked about how you build a custom computer. First you pick out the desired hardware, make sure it is all compatible, then start the assembly procedure. Take your time, seek advice and time your time. Then gather the right tools, download your drivers and latest manuals and take you time. Check to see if there are any firmware updates for you different hardware, make sure you have ample workspace and take your time. Don't hesitate to seek help and . . . take your time.

Go look at the Wiki-How article on how to build a computer. While reading it and watching the video, take your time. You might even want to print this excellent set of instructions before starting. One last piece of advice, absolutely, positively do not throw tools or parts. It really doesn't help. The voice of experience speaks.

My back hurts, my spine is screaming and I don't love Elvis. Time to medicate. Later.

"New capabilities emerge just by virtue of having smart people with access to state-of-the-art technology."
~Kahn

More Riley Jane News

Some news about the new baby - she's fine and her mother phoned my mother (her paternal grandmother) and talked for a few minutes. Actually got a picture through that text stuff on the cell phone. VERY cute baby - if I do say so myself! My youngest daughter, Beagle, has kept me posted and it's hopeful Verdana will call old Dad soon. She has a room full with both of the grandmothers and the other grandfather being there. Thank God they are all there to help. I am going to drive down after all the hoopla dies down when she says it's okay. It's not that I don't want to call, but we made an agreement several months ago that she should call when she feels like it. Hey, I can always take a few minutes to talk to my daughters! BTW, Beagle sorry I missed your phone call; sleeping so soundly I didn't hear the ring.

Uncle Snake, Verdana's husband, did post this on her blog:

Riley Jane arrived Tuesday February 24 at 12:55 PM. Despite her modest 18.5 in length and 6 lb 9.8 oz weight, she needed to exit through the side door. She and Momma are both doing well. Pictures coming soon...

Dadda

Now it's back to bed and the dreamworld of Flexiril. Lifting heavy objects never helps that problem and my dumb butt moved a 19" CRT flat screen monitor to put a server on the bench in order to ready it for installation. Duh!

"The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, "Daddy, I need to ask you something," he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan."
~Garrison Keillor

Daughters are, Beyond the Shadow of Any Doubt, Day Brighteners and Heart Warmers

Just found out Verdana gave birth to Riley today. More when they decide to give me details. Mallory has a little sister!!!!!!!!!!! Best Mardi Gras EVER! Just think, I was eating gumbo when notified. Love you bunches J.K. - Dad

"Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express."
~Joseph Addison

"And thou shalt in thy daughter see,
This picture, once, resembled thee."
~Ambrose Philips

And HDTV Said, "Let it Snow....and Squiggle"

Finally got my "basic" cable hooked up to the new HDTV aka monitor. Seriously considering dropping cable TV and just using their internet service. Really, is anyone seeing a noticeable difference in HDTV and Analog? Honestly, if anything it may be worse. Tried watching the Oscars last night. Hugh Jackman was really good but I despise Sean Penn and wish a muddy rock from the bottom of the Mississippi River would have won instead. What a worm. He needs to shut the hell up and leave politics to politicians and the American people. Screw his liberal banter. Oops, did it again. This started about the new TV format.

It is nice to be able to switch between the computer screen and TV. There's PIP (picture in picture), but I haven't read the manual enough to go there. This will also make me stay logged into the computer by accident. They still have not upped my internet speed to 10 down and I've been paying for it since the first of the year. Keeping a record of the speeds and it may have exceeded 6 down 2 or 3 times. Patience is a virtue. Yes, I know. So far HDTV has not been impressive. Has anyone set up a terrestrial antenna to receive HDTV? Gosh, it can't be much worse than the cable version. There are squiggly raster bar type lines in a few of the channels and others are downright grainy. You might take a look at AntennaWeb.org for more info.

Silly Socialist TV...uh,uh...meant Mississippi Public Broadcasting actually was off air for a few days. Looks like the extra time spent working on it paid off because they look better than everyone else. I really do like some of their programming, but the constant begging for money is annoying. Hey it became NON-Public in 1984 or 1985 when they scrambled their satellite signal. So they no longer receive my yearly donation. Maybe they should change the name to Mississippi Sorta', Kinda', Semi Public Broadcasting TV. Can I get a Hoooo-rah on that?

Talking to a friend in Glasgow, Scotland, two nights ago and he has given up the tube altogether. Now there is a really wild and crazy concept. Be hard to give up The Big Bang Theory which airs at 7:00PM locally tonight. They make me ROFLMAO! Enjoy your Monday. Remember, Tuesday arrives at the stroke of midnight!

"I wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There's a knob called 'brightness,' but that doesn't work."
~Ashby Rhett Culpepper,III, Jr., Esq.