Ram prices are at an all time low!
Yesterday I decided to upgrade to 4gb of ram because I was told by my local favorite computer shop (CompuTrak System) that ram prices were at an all time low (DDR2 only). He was sure right. Each 2gb stick cost me only $53. The 2gb kit I have now cost me somewhere around $285, and now I’m doubling that for only $106. Awesome.
Mapped drive not offering to remember password
Problem: I have a few new Windows XP installs, and they aren’t offering to remember the password for my mapped network drives.
The best wallpaper site ever
InterfaceLIFT is the best wallpaper site ever, period. They have strict standards on the quality of wallpaper submissions they receive, which includes no digital camera artifacts (this means the picture has to be taken with a digital SLR I think), and the pictures must be high res. So you can find all these really high quality, high resolution wallpapers for just about any screen size you want. They also have lots of cityscape shots which I love. Check it out.
Samples:
Post-rock: The genre no one knows about
Post-rock is a genre of music that goes along with a certain philosophy, and that is if you take out the singer, it forces the band to play better music. In my personal opinion I think almost every singer ruins almost every band. On a whole other level, if you take out the singers from the music you hear on the radio today, you’d be bored to tears with all the boring, uncreative and shitty music that’s become way to popular and just needs to die quickly.
Here is a sampler of some of my favorite post-rock tracks. Take note that post-rock songs usually have build-ups, so when the music sounds all slow and boring, don’t immediately assume it sucks, just wait a bit and you’ll understand why you just waited.
The Mercury Program – Fragile or Possibly Extinct
[audio:post-rock/02 fragile or possibly extinct.mp3]
Jai Alai – To Liberate
[audio:post-rock/Jai Alai - To Liberate.mp3]
Salvatore – Js Bells
[audio:post-rock/Salvatore - Js Bells.mp3]
Jakob – I Was Hidden
[audio:post-rock/05-jakob-i_was_hidden-nuhs.mp3]
This Will Destroy You – A Three-Legged Workhorse
[audio:post-rock/This Will Destroy You - A Three-Legged Workhorse.mp3]
Molia Falls – Godalming
[audio:post-rock/Molia Falls - Godalming.mp3]
Caspian – Further Up
[audio:post-rock/Caspian - You Are the Conductor - EP - 02 - Further Up.mp3]
Maserati – Show Me The Season
[audio:post-rock/06 - Maserati - Show Me The Season.mp3]
Backup solution with WinRAR and a batch file
I wanted to make the perfect manual backup solution in a batch file, so here’s the code. Just make a file called backup.bat and paste this text into it. You might have to change a few of the file paths and stuff though.
What it does:
- Offers to make an exact copy of what files exist now, or lets you continue and add new files that aren’t in the backup archive yet (assuming it’s you’ve ran it before)
- Lets you pick a file name once at the top rather than having to type it in multiple places.
- Uses a password protected archive.
- Will make another copy the backup file to another location by default for added safety.
Note: I think I had to make a %path% variable (or whatever those are called) to the WinRAR folder, and I don’t exactly remember what I did. It was really easy though.
SET varFileName=EnterFilenameHere
cls
:start
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO * Start a fresh backup? Press Y or N. *
ECHO * *
ECHO * You should do this every once and a while, *
ECHO * but not all the time. *
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO.
set choice=
set /p choice=Choice:
if not ‘%choice%’==” set choice=%choice:~0,1%
if ‘%choice%’==’y’ goto yes
if ‘%choice%’==’n’ goto no
ECHO “%choice%” is not valid please try again
ECHO.
goto start
:yes
ECHO ******************** Fresh Backup ***********************
ECHO.
DEL D:\Backup\”%varFileName%”.rar
goto end
:no
ECHO *********************** Update **************************
goto end
:end
ECHO.
ECHO Cougar Design Backup Wizard
ECHO.
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO * *
ECHO * Choose your password for the archive. *
ECHO * *
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO.
rar a -u -r -rr10 -rv20 -s -hp -m1 D:\Backup\”%varFileName%”.rar @C:\Backup\”%varFileName%”.lst
ECHO.
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO * Time to make a 2nd backup! *
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO.
xcopy D:\Backup\”%varFileName%”.rar E:\Backup\”%varFileName%”.rar /y /i
ECHO.
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO * Complete! *
ECHO * This will close when you press any key. *
ECHO *********************************************************
ECHO.
PAUSE
Can’t connect at 1000mbps, only 100mbps
Problem: Had a computer with a nice, new on-board Intel NIC. It would only connect at 100mbps. I even put another Intel network card in that was working at 1000mbps on another computer and it still wouldn’t work. The internet was also running very slow.
Solution: I forgot that I had setup the network in that office to run the network cable through the network power filter on the UPS. Set it up the normal way and everything was back to normal.
