I managed to play some Splinter Cell: Conviction and I'm sorry I haven't been playing it every day this past week. This is a fun game, easy to get into and challenging to play. And the fact that I have to relearn the controller keys is bothersome. I keep throwing grenades when I want to reload my primary weapon. That is a very frustrating mistake, but at least I haven't killed myself doing it.
The other thing is how wonderful the graphics look on the 40 inch flat screen sent through the HDMI connection - Wow. I don't know why I haven't finished this game, but I think I'm going to devote more time finishing it in the near future.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Day Two Hundred Sixty: Evening of April 22nd 2010
My wife left with the Torx (not Torq) screwdrivers in my tech repair kit. She had the adapter to hook up the internal hard drive. She was, as we used to say on the firing line, locked and loaded. I wondered if all the files would be recoverable.
About ten o'clock I received a call from my wife that she was having trouble with taking the iMac apart. She started to read the tools needed and she mentioned a Torx-10 and a Torx-8. I stopped her and said we don't have that small of a Torx bit. Then, I told her that I'd check and get back to her. Checking my tools, confirmed the initial assessment. I wondered if I could overnight an inexpensive set of bits, and work on the project. I went online and found an inexpensive Torx set at Amazon.com. When I called my wife and told her what I had found, she asked me if it might be at a local hardware store. I knew it wasn't at the local hardware store, but there was a Home Depot on the way home. Returning to Safari, I find that there is a similar set at that hardware store. I text the part numbers and description to my wife so that she can pick it up on the way home.
After dinner the disassembly begins. Unbelievable, the engineers a Apple must not have wanted anyone to increase the storage capacity of the computer. Luckily, my wife isn' planning on using the machine anymore, so I didn't need to be really careful about the pull apart. I had the hard drive out in about a half hour, and my wife was transferring the students' files to her external hard drive - mission accomplished.
Now it's time to clean up. I'll ask my wife if she wants me to salvage anything else before the unit is trashed.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
About ten o'clock I received a call from my wife that she was having trouble with taking the iMac apart. She started to read the tools needed and she mentioned a Torx-10 and a Torx-8. I stopped her and said we don't have that small of a Torx bit. Then, I told her that I'd check and get back to her. Checking my tools, confirmed the initial assessment. I wondered if I could overnight an inexpensive set of bits, and work on the project. I went online and found an inexpensive Torx set at Amazon.com. When I called my wife and told her what I had found, she asked me if it might be at a local hardware store. I knew it wasn't at the local hardware store, but there was a Home Depot on the way home. Returning to Safari, I find that there is a similar set at that hardware store. I text the part numbers and description to my wife so that she can pick it up on the way home.
After dinner the disassembly begins. Unbelievable, the engineers a Apple must not have wanted anyone to increase the storage capacity of the computer. Luckily, my wife isn' planning on using the machine anymore, so I didn't need to be really careful about the pull apart. I had the hard drive out in about a half hour, and my wife was transferring the students' files to her external hard drive - mission accomplished.
Now it's time to clean up. I'll ask my wife if she wants me to salvage anything else before the unit is trashed.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-nine: Evening of April 21st 2010
The hard drive issue from yesterday remained unresolved because a Torq-10 bit wasn't available to unscrew the external cover from the back of the defective computer.
When researching the procedure for opening the Mac, the images associated with disassembling the unit showed Philips head screws, so my wife knew that she had that type of tool, so she left the bit set at home. Low and behold, the screw head showed the asterisk shape of a Torq bit. The phone call was made and the search began. It really wasn't much of a search, I knew where all the bits were. My only question was, "Did I have a T-10 bit?" Both sets of tools contained the needed Torq bit. That means tomorrow we will find out if the adapter works, and the students' will be rescued. I certainly hope so.
On the gaming side, I can, with certainty, say the insanity difficulty setting requires a serious re-evaluation of my tactics and use of cover. I managed to finish the Omega quests, but only after restarting the scenario from the beginning once and eight restarts from various locations. So I managed to play Mass Effect 2 for about two hours before I had to get dinner.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
When researching the procedure for opening the Mac, the images associated with disassembling the unit showed Philips head screws, so my wife knew that she had that type of tool, so she left the bit set at home. Low and behold, the screw head showed the asterisk shape of a Torq bit. The phone call was made and the search began. It really wasn't much of a search, I knew where all the bits were. My only question was, "Did I have a T-10 bit?" Both sets of tools contained the needed Torq bit. That means tomorrow we will find out if the adapter works, and the students' will be rescued. I certainly hope so.
On the gaming side, I can, with certainty, say the insanity difficulty setting requires a serious re-evaluation of my tactics and use of cover. I managed to finish the Omega quests, but only after restarting the scenario from the beginning once and eight restarts from various locations. So I managed to play Mass Effect 2 for about two hours before I had to get dinner.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-eight: Evening of April 20th 2010
So a minor excursion into Mass Effect 2, seeking Archangel, a long afternoon errand, and then dinner.
So what was the adventure with technology today?
It started with a phone call from my wife. A sense of urgency was evident. A computer was down, and student's project was trapped on the hard drive. That project was important and of course there wasn't current backup (aah, teenagers). Troubleshooting for the computer had resulted in no improvement. The unit started, flashed a gray screen and ultimately shut down. My wife visited the Apple forum and FAQ support site to double check her troubleshooting procedures, tried a few additional suggestions, and then called me about the availability of a hard drive enclosure to salvage the data on the student's hard drive.
So the search began. I knew that there were plenty of enclosures, but I decided to to check out the price range. Offhand, I didn't think that she would have to spend more that fifty dollars. The search confirmed that. So, I texted her that she needed the basic specs for the HD - size (2.5" or 3.5") and type (SATA, PATA, IDE) to make sure we picked up the right case. From previous experience, I knew it would be a 3.5" SATA, but a double check is worthwhile. About twenty minutes after the initial post, I remembered that there were adapters the bypassed the enclosure and hold up to the 'naked' hard drive. I informed her of this and she was excited about the possibility of getting it. With it you can pull a drive out, collect the data, return it to the machine, and ship it off for repair if needed.
That evening after dinner, we went to a local MicroCenter and checked out the enclosures and file transfer adapters. As we walked in, there were two enclosures on shelves to the left of us. I think they were about thirty dollars. We studied them and then moved to hard drive section, knowing that if all else fails we could return to that shelf and pick up one of those enclosures. There was a large selection of enclosures. Prices ranged from about twenty five dollar to almost ninety dollars. Continuing the search, we found the adapters, and started looking through the selection. That became a problem, because we couldn't figure out which one to get. To further compound the problem, the price range was reasonable and very close from model to model. We picked one that had the Mac OS symbol on the box.
Of course we didn't leave, she needed a new keyboard, which we found in the Apple section of the store. Browsing is fun,and we had fun. She finally picked out the latest Apple keyboard, and we returned home. It was a successful excursion.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
So what was the adventure with technology today?
It started with a phone call from my wife. A sense of urgency was evident. A computer was down, and student's project was trapped on the hard drive. That project was important and of course there wasn't current backup (aah, teenagers). Troubleshooting for the computer had resulted in no improvement. The unit started, flashed a gray screen and ultimately shut down. My wife visited the Apple forum and FAQ support site to double check her troubleshooting procedures, tried a few additional suggestions, and then called me about the availability of a hard drive enclosure to salvage the data on the student's hard drive.
So the search began. I knew that there were plenty of enclosures, but I decided to to check out the price range. Offhand, I didn't think that she would have to spend more that fifty dollars. The search confirmed that. So, I texted her that she needed the basic specs for the HD - size (2.5" or 3.5") and type (SATA, PATA, IDE) to make sure we picked up the right case. From previous experience, I knew it would be a 3.5" SATA, but a double check is worthwhile. About twenty minutes after the initial post, I remembered that there were adapters the bypassed the enclosure and hold up to the 'naked' hard drive. I informed her of this and she was excited about the possibility of getting it. With it you can pull a drive out, collect the data, return it to the machine, and ship it off for repair if needed.
That evening after dinner, we went to a local MicroCenter and checked out the enclosures and file transfer adapters. As we walked in, there were two enclosures on shelves to the left of us. I think they were about thirty dollars. We studied them and then moved to hard drive section, knowing that if all else fails we could return to that shelf and pick up one of those enclosures. There was a large selection of enclosures. Prices ranged from about twenty five dollar to almost ninety dollars. Continuing the search, we found the adapters, and started looking through the selection. That became a problem, because we couldn't figure out which one to get. To further compound the problem, the price range was reasonable and very close from model to model. We picked one that had the Mac OS symbol on the box.
Of course we didn't leave, she needed a new keyboard, which we found in the Apple section of the store. Browsing is fun,and we had fun. She finally picked out the latest Apple keyboard, and we returned home. It was a successful excursion.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Monday, April 19, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-seven: Evening of April 19th 2010
No games today, but I worked on shifting the WiFi router around to improve the signal strength on the first floor. I had purchased a specially designed wall mount for the Airport Extreme and spent the afternoon moving surge protectors around, shifting plugs around, and reorganizing the hookup cables. In the end, I managed to reposition the router about six feet from its current location. It seemed to work, but it wasn't until ten minutes ago, that I was able to see if the signal strength had improved. I'm sitting in a chair, that is the farthest away from the wireless unit, and just successfully downloaded an app. My wife confirmed the improved signal. After battling the tenatious cables, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
There was a 'Plan B' ready, just in case. That entailed the purchase of an Airport Express, and wirelessly extending the network. The drawback was the extra hundred dollars that needed to be expended to purchase the unit. So I am doubly happy about the success of the relocation.
Maybe I'll be able to play a bit tomorrow. We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
There was a 'Plan B' ready, just in case. That entailed the purchase of an Airport Express, and wirelessly extending the network. The drawback was the extra hundred dollars that needed to be expended to purchase the unit. So I am doubly happy about the success of the relocation.
Maybe I'll be able to play a bit tomorrow. We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-six: Evening of April 18th 2010
It was very much a pastiche kind of day as far as gaming was concerned - a little bit of this and then a little bit of that. The only console game played this afternoon was Mass Effect 2, and I made the mistake of sitting in the recliner, (or as I'm going to start calling it "The Seat of Slumber") and fell into a rather deep sleep. I didn't get much done, other than finding a few medallions from the crew of the original Normandy who didn't survive, before I had to break for dinner.
I didn't t get a chance to find a new location for the WiFi device, which is sort of disappointing because I could call down to the first floor to check on the signal strength before mounting it to the wall. I guess I'll get some exercise running up and down the stairs during the day.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
I didn't t get a chance to find a new location for the WiFi device, which is sort of disappointing because I could call down to the first floor to check on the signal strength before mounting it to the wall. I guess I'll get some exercise running up and down the stairs during the day.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Day Two Hundred Fifty-five: Evening of April 17th 2010
As usual, Saturday has filled with little chores, so it was difficult to spend any quality time with any of my console games. But I was able to install a utility, TuneRanger on my Mac book Pro and my Toshiba, that I though would help in synchronizing and organizing my various iTunes collections.
The key to synchronizing with this application in network stability. The directions are adequate, and the heavy emphasis on network settings should have clued me in. My first mistake was synchronizing all files, including movies and TV shows. The program seemed to freeze when it started to download the first movie, when in reality, the wireless network uploading/downloading speed was slow. I reset, which means restart, both my PC and my Mac, and made sure only the music was set to transfer. I started the process, watched for a while as the songs started to transfer, then left to work on the laundry. When I returned about thirty minutes later, about eighty songs had been transferred with more appearing as I watched. I checked the connection strength. The next thing I notice, song transfers were failing. I was confused, and wondered what was happening. As I flushed the failed tunes, I asked my daughter how the network was. Her negative reply pointed me in the right direction. The network let me down. I'll have to rethink my idea about what to do the next time I try it out.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
The key to synchronizing with this application in network stability. The directions are adequate, and the heavy emphasis on network settings should have clued me in. My first mistake was synchronizing all files, including movies and TV shows. The program seemed to freeze when it started to download the first movie, when in reality, the wireless network uploading/downloading speed was slow. I reset, which means restart, both my PC and my Mac, and made sure only the music was set to transfer. I started the process, watched for a while as the songs started to transfer, then left to work on the laundry. When I returned about thirty minutes later, about eighty songs had been transferred with more appearing as I watched. I checked the connection strength. The next thing I notice, song transfers were failing. I was confused, and wondered what was happening. As I flushed the failed tunes, I asked my daughter how the network was. Her negative reply pointed me in the right direction. The network let me down. I'll have to rethink my idea about what to do the next time I try it out.
We shall see.
For as long as it's needed, I'll keep closing this way. Please check out a good organization that's providing aid in Haiti and make what ever kind of contribution that you can afford.
-- Post From My iPad using Pages
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