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May 2005

Viewing posts from May , 2005

too hot for common sense

The stage is set. The private NWN server is now ready.

Problem is, i don’t have any players that can log in. For the moment, i was expecting a two-person party consisting of myself and my sister. However, my sister’s notebook did not seem to agree.

Sony Vaio PCG-GRZ*: Fatal flaw

Based on complaints from GRZ users everywhere, it seems that this particular notebook model has a very strong tendency to overheat and cause immediate shutdown of the machine.

One simple reason: dust buildup. Dust goes in unfiltered through the air intake, and gets stuck on the heat sinks that are placed right before the exhaust. Hence, the air works hard to cool down the dust, but the heat sinks remain hot. Or something like that.

Solution: clean it up. Based on instructions found here, we can hopefully get the machine up to optimal levels. In the long run, I think throwing in some thermal compound somewhere will help lots. So, anyone wanna go to Low Yat?

PS: Ezlan.net seems to have lotsa nice techie tips. Gotta look through ’em sometime.

Lonelyyyyyy

Lonelyyyyy, I’m so lonelyyyyyyyyy
Then there’s that Toby
Who’s got no home…wooooooo

Lonelyyyyy, I’m so lonelyyyyyyyyy
And my whole family
Think he’s so good…wooooooo

need for rpg

Hey hey…

Just spent two hours trying to get my workstation back online. Somehow the TCP/IP settings got corrupted, and I had to follow some intricate steps on how to get it back up.

I’ll never look down on the floppy drive again.

All for the glory of Neverwinter. Not being able to continue our adventures on Norrath, I was looking into preparing a local private Neverwinter Nights server on this box. The installation of the Linux binaries on FreeBSD is pretty straightforward; just installed a new hard drive to make space for the game data.

The big problem was totally unrelated: stopping NWN clients from authenticating with the central NWN servers. I only have one CD key, and wanting to play with my siblings on the LAN doesn’t justify paying an extra RM 139 x 2. Instead of scouring the net for a list of ports to block, I decided to take the easy route and install TCPView Pro 1.06 to monitor connection from the NWN program.

And that was enough to screw my PC over.

Fortunately, I still have net access on the other workstations to find some solutions. After trying a few, which involved formatting DOS floppies on BSD to copy over, I settled with a solution posted somewhere. Check the extended section for details.

Oh well, back to work.

Read More

strangely quiet

Office deserted. Only 3 remain. We cannot move, for the destination is fraught with danger. Well, not really.

Due to expiring contracts, the entire project team is moving 12 floors down to join our FI, MM, PM, BW, and etc. counterparts. We’ll have an entire wing to ourselves, except for the ERP head, admin folk, and squatters from another division.

Problem is, the squatter area has momentarily extended into what should be our new cubicles.

Oh well, I could use some relaxation up here, not being able to do any work since all my documents are already there.

Anyway, life’s been moving along pretty fast, since there’s always something to do. Maybe a little too fast. At home, I’ve been rewatching Star Wars eps 4-5, with 6 to happen this afternoon. Oh, gotta clean the house up first tho, as we’ll be having visitors again. Also been playing Shadow of Rome, which is great. Playing Octavianus is challenging, somewhat exciting, but Agrippa’s role is much much more action packed (i.e. bloody). I guess that makes me a closet sadist.

Was playing Champions of Norrath with my sis, but the disc hung at one point and we couldn’t proceed. Can’t play Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 either, as that didn’t even start up at all. Time to go see Mandy, our favorite PS2 shopkeeper.

In terms of reading, I’ve yet to wrap my Galaxy Express manga. Have not seen any new releases of the anime series out. Think I’ll go update my collection of Ichigo 100% later. Started reading Eternal Sabbath, which is about some experimental clones who’ve achieved immortality somewhat, having extra mental powers as a side effect.

It’s now 12.18. Another 42 minutes to burn.

Serenade to my banoffee

Oh dearest banoffee
How do I crave thee
With firm meringue top
Laced with chocolate drips
Encrusted in soft and crumbling pie
A luscious core
That hides the sweetest of banana slices
Entrenched in glorious, oh glorious toffee
And a price that’s far from free
To suffer heartburn, after consuming thee…

rainy day

it was a lovely morning. birds chirpin; trees swaying gently in the breeze of dawn. however, towards noon i sensed an ominous presence coming ever so closer; a depraved being that will not stop till all grounded things are marked by its acidic touch.

the evil qumulonimboos has arrived.

i did not sense danger then, as the creature sprayed its wrath upon the land. it was only when an annoying buzzing sound sent alarms ringing in my head. i picked up the apartment intercom receiver.

“hello, sir.”
“yes?”
“your car is parked at the wrong place.”

the cruel (but awfully stupid) security guard’s sentence sent a shiver down my spine. i was expecting this, but not so soon.

“which car?”
“uhh.. let me check.”

he starts asking his alien friends in his blubbering native language.

“the red kancil, sir.”
“and who reported this?”
“the owner.”

now that was the last straw. was the Nice Neighborly Treatly not signed moons ago? it was shocking, but i calmed myself to find more truths within his claim.

“are you SURE?”
“uhh, no it was the management staff.”

figures. the enigmatic building manager and his cronies are behind this. they’ve been ruling colony Prima 16 with an iron fist, handed down from a legacy of idiotic leaders. the squabbling factions within the senate of residents didn’t help either. their eternal bickering only led to more legislation which lacked sense, common or other.

“whatever.”

i hung up. “this is stupid”, i thought. they didn’t mind my blue vessel, bearing the Neighborly Seal of Peace, to reside within our neighbor’s domain. yet these nepalese bastids and their puppeteers are immediately at arms when my red or silver shuttles make a short stop at its port of call. really, these pests stop short at nothing to ruin a relationship between two peaceful neighbors.

i feared the ruin of this colony is just beginning. no, it has always been in motion. only now it reveals the true horror of its intentions.

later, when returning from a round trip to the Sri Hartamas constellation, i was stopped at the entry checkpoint into the colony. it was then that i knew how deeply rooted qumulonimboos’ influence was among us.

“sir, you cannot park somewhere else. you must park at your own place.”

god, don’t these guys know when to stop?

“what’s your problem? the owner let us park there. why is the management so kaypoh?”

“sir, you cannot park somewhere else. you must park at your own place.”

“can’t you LISTEN to what i’m saying? see this sticker here? it plainly states that i am to park at that owner’s lot!”

“this car, yes. other cars, no.”

i groaned loudly. my mind was just teeming with cuss words that i just wanted to throw into that dark face. but for now, the situation requires finesse and more importantly, composure. who knows what the dictators will do if i erupted now.

for the moment, i just want to get away from that sick blue uniform.

“fine.”

without a further glance, i lurched the vehicle forward in what seemed like some form of rebellion. thrusters ablaze with fury, i took the vessel down into the depths of this illusion called home.

F1 Bloopers

Overheard during F1 today at my house:

1) Are F1 cars made from spare parts and components from damaged cars and junkyards?

2) Mistaken Monaco for Montreal… ” Should have driven to Monaco from Buffalo, New York”

3) What cars do Sauber make? Is Petronas car made in Malaysia?

4) Are all the cars from Ferrari?

“Since when was football ever fair…”

Yep, that line uttered by the commentary would sum up the FA Cup final Arsenal vs Manchester United in a nutshell. MU went down to Arsenal 4-5 on penalty shootout, despite MU clearly being the better team tonight, Arsenal fans, I dare you to disagree.

Oh well…, thats life, u win some, u lose some, even when u don’t deserve it.

nothing in particular

fma reflections: here.

watched ep 3 last thursday. general opinion was that the movie ain’t so great, but a must see anyhow. hayden could use some acting lessons, but the cg was awesome enough to counter.

finally got playlists to work on my 6230, no thanks to nokia. it’s no wonder how third party software like mobimb can flourish: the firmware developers at nokia are just horrendous! they keep developing new comms protocol for their phones, but never even think about backward-compatibility when designing the tools, i.e. nokia pc suite.

it’s too bad the phone itself is nice. otherwise i might’ve considered a sony ericsson, or even a mo tuo luo la!

oh well, back to searching for a new theme.

no sleep, more happy

meetings can be unexpectedly refreshing early in the morning. especially when things went quiet well. so well that the sleepless state i was in last night seemed nothing.

was even tempted to post an entry at 4.30am.

thinking back, there could be a few reasons why i couldn’t sleep last night:

1 – work. was somewhat agitated about this morning’s meeting. guess i didn’t have to worry after all.

2 – the golem’s eye. the second book of the bartimaeus trilogy. i was at the climax. didn’t want it to end. so ended up finishing the book anyhows. 😛

3 – bratja (brothers). a very emotionally charged song from the full metal alchemist OST. it had its full effect when played during the FMA recollections episode, and just playing it back on winamp brings back some lingering sadness.

think the main reason was 3, which was used as an excuse to finish up 2. 😛

anyway, somehow, i still managed to wake up and get to work on time, in a somewhat dazy mood. sat in my cubicle, added some last minute touches to my presentation slides. then came morning talk. guess i didn’t mention this before: the project managers made it a point to have some sort of morning gathering every wednesday. to keep us close and informed as a team, i guess.

man, i just wanna get close to the chicks.

anyway, this morning one of the consultants just got back from NZ, and he even gave us a slideshow picture presentation. needless to say, 2 weeks of pics were a lot. and the slideshow timer didn’t help either.

one interesting comment was made, which i somehow related to Merv, but i forget. oh well.

also, looks like i won’t be seeing kylie next month, due to her illness. talk about bad timing.

i do hope she gets well soon. and not only due to mainly masculine reasons.

*same day edit*
i wanted to put in a link for the fma reflections torrent, but i can’t seem to find nanashi-fansub’s bt site. oh well, you’ll just have to go to their irc channel.

also, i forgot to mention that i have a new assistant/subordinate now. she’s way older than me though, so i feel it’s a bit weird, and somehow self-imposedly challenging (paranoia at work). not really my first time having a team to command either, but this is different. gotta play my cards correctly, otherwise many emotionally charged situations may arise. and i’m not good with those.