Dear old workstation.

Gash, yesterday was a real hassle. I can tell you that much. It started early in the morning when I turned on my computer. Due to some minor inconveniences I decided to enter the BIOS. So, I made my adjustments and saved for reboot. Ka-blaam! I got stuck at the POST phase. The last line I read was the CPU identification, no quick memory testing, no possibility for hitting DEL. Stuck! This wasn't what I was expecting. After a couple of minutes I realized the seriousness of this matter. I was stuck. I had to fetch some ancient computer at some 2nd hand store, just to fetch the floppy drive and re-flash the BIOS, 'cuz I couldn't get into the operating system. Then it hit me, I would not even be able to re-write BIOS data through a floppy drive, since I was stuck at nowhere land. Oh no!

I hoped for a minor circuit flaw that a JP1 reset would correct. So, I popped the hood and flipped the jumper back and forth. Reboot. Same old lock-down screen. I started feeling blue. This was not fun. Fortunately, my photos and other precious data wouldn't be harmed, since they were on the hard drive. Anyways, it is not fun being all shutdown like this. We went to my fiancé's apartment where I hooked up with Google. After some reading, I began to suspect that my PLCC chip (chief over the BIOS program) had been physically injured. These things could evidently happen. Damn. Of course, what had I expected? My workstation is a couple of years old, not exactly a shining new Lamborghini, and it's been through a lot. Of course it was time for memorial service. This was only a matter of acceptance right now. Anyways, I couldn't go there, not just yet. I ran into a computer shop downtown, and explained my issue, and asked them how much it would cost me to have them finding a new (fitting) PLCC chip, plus mounting it (a solder task). They told me I could count on ending up on around 700 SEK (72.12€ / 103.36$).

"Oh. That doesn't sound all that bad. Let me think it over, then I'll get back to you"

As I left the store, I thought to my self, "Not a chance on earth, not with today's budget". Besides, for only like twice that amount, I would probably get a brand new (modern) ShuttleX chassis, no longer being bound to an old motherboard running Socket 478 CPU's, which are no longer manufactured. I'd just let it be for now. So I went home again. Made a final attempt to reset the CMOS through that pin jumper. Guess if I gave a happy smile when the good old lad booted up..? You bet!



You see, I don't need a top of the line computer. I'm happy with this machinery. Just look at it, the front is like a bathroom mirror, fully equipped with a 6-in-1 card reader, plus audio as well as USB(2.0) ports. It's a knight in shining armor. Wow, I was so happy. Later on the day, I celebrated this victory by eating lunch on McDonald's. I also went into a electronics shop and bought a PCI card providing 4+1 additional USB(2.0) ports. Up until now, I had used my (only) PCI slot for a dumb ass WAN adapter, an old 54MBit model that is. So, I figured that with additional USB ports, I could plug a WAN dongle in whenever I felt like it. Anyways, right now there's no need, since I've desist from being connected at home. Anyways, these ports were good for just about anything. I mean, everything goes through USB nowadays. We're foremost the USB nation, aren't we?

Just thought I'd share this happy story with y'all!

OpenOffice 3 - soon to come..

A long waiting filled with expectations. Hopefully, the launch is just a couple of days away. However, seems like it's been postponed at least once. I reckon, like a week ago, the Swedish OpenOffice site claimed the preliminary release date to be at 29th of September. As of today, it's set to 7th of October. Anyways, guess you can wait just a little bit longer for something as fabulous as this release.

Running out of Ketaprofen gel

Heh. Still unsure of whether this NSAID stuff is really helping at all. However, it must be placebo or something, 'cuz when I'm in the loop of lubricating it into my forearm, I just can't seem to get enough. A big shout-out to that muscle-caring nurse who gave me the tip about NSAID á gel. I mean, how come nurses up at boot camp land didn't tell me about this back in 2004 when the first symptoms occurred. Strange indeed. Feels like a big waste to spread this [known to cause gastric ulcer as main side effect] substance out more than necessary.

However, the gel is as you can see not everlasting.

My first tube - 13th of August 2008


My first tube - 26th of September 2008


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketoprofen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAID

A.M.F.A.B - A Major Food Ambient Blog v0.1

Just catching the vibes, trying to figure out the appropriate interface for this one. However, there's no time to argue with myself about little things. Time to hit the haystack.

28th of August

One meaty day!

24th of August

The Salmon was calling us!

23th of August

Chicken Race on the highway, hombre!

21th of August

Meat is what the doctor referred to!

18th of August

Farmer beef w. vegetables means happiness!

17th of August

The delicious mixture of sausage, vegetables 'N' hocus!

16th of August

I'm no chicken, I just eat lots of white meat!!

15th of August

Hamburgers 'R' us right now.
We do not refer to traditional fastfood corners.

14th of August

Meat? How could I eat so much? It must be a miracle!

13th of August

Back to the world-famous Sausage Stroganof.
This here is to die for!

9th of August

My sweet lady preparing the onion.

Lucid dreams in wonderland

Wow.

When I woke up this morning, I could recall the strangest dream. It was so clear. I was sort of drawing a Rocky strip, but not as a comic, but more of motion. I mean like, my focus wasn't on the illustrations, but on the storyline of the strip. And how I made it connect, truly amazing. I recall two pieces of the story. On the first one, Rocky was having a conversation with a friend of his, regarding childhood memories. This side-characters explains that back when he was a kid, he was always so anxious to get on the train so that he was always standing nasty close to the edge of the platforms. I mean like, where did I get this idea from? I know I read in the news a couple of days ago about some guy who had been hit by a S-train due to an unfortunate tripping (whereas [of course] he must have stood close to the platform). Wow, could this be a blast from the sky. The Almighty Creator (for no particular reason) trying to tell me how that man was hit by that train 'cuz of stress. So, if I dig deeper into it. Where does this leave me? Hmm.. Wicked indeed. However, in the other half of this Rocky strip I was ..err.. shooting.. Rocky was having a daydream about how he would lay his hands on some real rare concert tickets. Then, Rocky is suddenly standing on the platform, waiting for a friend to arrive by train. When he does, he hands Rocky a couple of concert tickets. However, it was some lame shit, not that cool concert that Rocky was hoping for. Names of the artists? Well, you have to keep in mind that lucid dreams blocks away all unessential stuff. So, here is the part where Rocky is giving his "jerked-off" smile directly to the strip-viewer, this is sort of the bottom end score for this strip. I'm telling you, it was incredible.

Back to being bald!

Yeah. I know we're reaching in upon autumn, even winter, but I just felt like doing it. It's such a nice feeling, a clean shaved head. So fresh, even when it's cold outside.

Movie: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2007)

So, yesterday me and my beloved fiancé watched this film. Nice photography all the way through the movie, is oughtta be my first comment on this one. What more is there to say. It's a pretty nice story, yet from what I understand told a couple of times before throughout the years. However, Tim Burton really laid a smooth hand over on this one. It just has to be said. The film is made like a musical, with lots of singing. Some which I almost thought felt a bit out of chorus, a little feature that I (after going through it) think could be inplanted in purpose. Sort of the same thing that some noisemaker I read an interview explained it, but then of course the main issue was that you should pop made up rhymes into your lyrics to make them more alive. "The listeners will go 'Wtf?!' and eventually catch on to the vibe", he explained. Hehe, well, guess I ran off topic there. Anyways, this was definitely a film worth watching. Damn, still havn't ran that Batman marathon, and it feels like that DVD release for The Dark Knight is getting pretty near now.

Movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/
http://www.sweeneytoddmovie.com/

About the fictional main character: