Wow, I’m Neglient.

Saturday, 17th May, 2008 :: 04:26 EDT - Geeky
RAID has gone 695 days without being checked, check forced.

I think that’s the entire period of time that I’ve had my RAID running here at home. Woops.

I’ve decided against setting up a new raid for extra space, as that will cost $500 or so and I just don’t need the multi-terrabytes of storage that would give me. Instead I paid a premium for another 250GB drive and have decided to ‘grow’ the current RAID instead.

I could have purchased a larger drive (twice as large actually) for a mere $20 more, but that space would also be wasted considering the current RAID is 250GB drives. I suppose I could do the swap/rebuild business over and over again until the array is using larger drives. That’s a lot of work and I would rather not go through that trouble.

So, for now, hopefully growing the current array by one drive will do the trick. I will, eventually, probably upgrade to something more substantial, but I think an extra 250GB will do me quite nicely for a while. I’m not really the type to store the entire internet anyway (unlike my brother Matt, hah).

BSG Season 4 Premier

Thursday, 3rd April, 2008 :: 07:01 EDT - Geeky

It’s this Friday, anyone that wants to watch it on my 42″ in HD just needs to let me know. I’ll save it on the DVR for Saturday viewing if anyone can’t quite make the 10pm lateness of the first run episodes. Let me know about that too, obviously. It could be a weekly thing even, heh.

Henry the Blue Ram

Friday, 28th April, 2006 :: 03:27 EDT - Geeky

I think I need a fish category, because the Martha category doesn’t really work for this, heh. Anyway, this is Henry, the male (shock!) Blue Ram. He’s been incredibly camera shy, meaning I have mostly lots of really blurry photos of him.

Henry the Blue Ram

Henry the Blue Ram and his Mohawk

Henry the Blue Ram being spikey again

Click to enlarge, as usual, the thumbnails look a bit wonky.

Satisfying.

Thursday, 29th September, 2005 :: 08:37 EDT - Geeky, Tech

I tried to extend the game play as long as possible, basically three or so full days, perhaps four, spaced out… but I have now finished playing Half Life 2.

I have to say that I absolutely hated driving the buggy and the whole antlion thing was very annoying… overall though I thoroughly enjoyed playing the game.

I did encounter the horrible stuttering problem toward the end. In the final chapter it was totally unplayable, then I defragmented the drive and it that mostly solved it.

My cheapass Geforce 6200 was able to play the game on its highest settings (with the exception of no anti-aliasing) using the full native resolution of my LCD, 1280×1024. I don’t have framerate data, but I can say that apart from the stuttering, which has nothing to do with the graphics processor, the game was completely playable… unlike when I tried to play Doom 3 on my Geforce 420MX — which was a slideshow.

It’s interesting, I suppose, that even though I was getting such lovely visuals with an admittedly low end graphics card, how I wrote down on my specificiation sheet that I wanted a Geforce 7800 GT for my new little Shuttle box. Those cards come in around $400… almost as much as the AMD 64 X2 I have my eye on. I say almost, as when you’re getting into the higher figures the difference of a hundred dollars seems insignificant, lol.

I think I found myself wrapped up in overkill mode, why not get the best.. even though there is a GTX version of the 7800, it won’t fit in the Shuttle, heh. Then again, I just don’t know… it’s about spending once and then not having to worry about it for a couple of years, thankfully and horribly, it’ll be a long time before I can muster the cash to actually buy any of that, heh.

Answering Search Engine Questions.

Thursday, 2nd December, 2004 :: 02:43 EST - Geeky

Ear Gauge & How to Gauge Ears:

Mine are no longer gauged, as I’ve moved beyond that system. They’re 7/16ths of an inch, though I mostly wear 1cm jewelry. I took approximately eight months to get to 00 gauge from standard piercing gun size, using tapered acrylic “claws” for every step, about a size a month. Going slowly and allowing for healing between sizes has allowed me to have a fairly nice looking stretch, versus some that I’ve seen on others, eww. I had both of my ears pierced with the gun when I was twelve, that’s fourteen years ago. Do not use a gun these days, go to a professional, it will cost more, but trust me, a piercing gun is BAD, BAD, BAD.

Bacardi Ciclone:

That stuff is just okay, it’s basically a premixed drink, but think about it: rum and tequila mixed together? …does that really seem appealing to you? Take my advice, pass on that, even if you think the bottle is cool.

Hedgren Urban Bag:

I had one of these, bought it at the Samsonite store at the outlets in Hagerstown. It really is a nice bag, except the magnetic snap closure would pull out through the ultra thin (another bad thing) nylon. I replaced it with a wonderful Tom Bihn small cafe bag, while much more simple, I like it a lot better.

Sculpy for Ears Plugs:

I tried this, worked out okay, but it’s very difficult to get two that match, and even more difficult is getting them to be the proper size. Screw it, just buy good ones, they’re worth it.

MI-5 on A&E:

Yes, I think they cancelled it. If not it is on some horribly long hiatus. I really enjoyed that program too, the bastards.

Shaving Soap Recipe:

Any soap recipe will work, basically, just add some bentonite clay for added slip, about 2 tablespoons per pound of oils. Mix it up with ‘raw’ oil when you go to mix it into the soup mixture, otherwise you’ll have a clump-o-rama from hell.

Djarum Bali Hai Naturales Cloves:

These are a very tropical clove cigarette. I do like them, but tend to associate them distinctly with spiced rum & cokes, this dumb boy I fell in love with, and hanging out in this deadend town to the southeast of here. As you might have guessed, I tend to avoid purchasing them these days.

20 Gauge Ears:

This is basically what you get when you pierce with a gun, approximately the size of all standard earrings.

Hyundai Tiburon:

I owned a 1998 model, it was deep purple, nearly black. I loved that car, it had massive power. Sadly, I had to give it up when I started my company… I needed the capital for that instead.

“how to be a good boyfriend what are the steps” & “ideal boyfriend” & “steps to being a good boyfriend”

These gave me a chuckle, I think I’ll just leave it at that. I’m fairly tempted to write an entry just on that subject in the future though.

Ikea Lack Shelf Hardware Screws:

Use the biggest ones that’ll fit, with the strongest wall anchors you can find. Otherwise you’ll find the shelves tilting horrifyingly south if you put anything of substantial weight on them. Also, remember, they’re only designed to hold 7 pounds… not 400 cds. ;)

Ikea Brigad:

Lovely hard anodized aluminium cookware. It’s quasi-nonstick, cleans up easily, is quite hefty, and highly recommended by me for cost-effective fabulous kitchen goals. A complete set of two saucepans, two pots, and a frying pan will cost you just $125. This is as close as you’re going to get to the best cookware without jumping into the $100 per piece range, in my humble opinion.

Man Purse:

Go ahead and get one, once you do you’ll fully realize how ‘women had it right’ in carrying their purses around everywhere. I recommend Tom Bihn, since that’s the one I have, heh.

“emachine won’t turn on after being unplugged”

Did you plug it back in? I’m sorry you own an emachine though. As sucky as having a computer die is, you’re probably better off. Save up your money and buy a quality computer, meaning, get yourself an Apple.

“ever tried cheer dark”

Yep, Matthew & I recommend it for dark clothing. However; you’ll want to get some woolite dark for more quality items like your fancy black trousers; reserve the Cheer Dark for things like jeans or cotton sweaters, underwear, etc. I don’t trust it for dressier clothing because it is still a relatively general purpose fabric detergent.

Queer Ravers:

So cute, really… so brainless, really. The phrase “retard boy” comes to mind here, the first letter can easily be dropped for full effect too.

“how much wax needed per 6oz candle”

Your ratio is 16oz of wax by weight will equal 20 oz of wax by volume.

“hanes no-fly trunks price”

$10 per package of four at walmart. They’re cut HUGE, just to warn you. ;)

“kitchenaid and hechts”

I bought mine there, a 5 quart Artisan. Hecht’s sale price is everyone else’s regular price. They inflate the ‘regular’ price by about $100 per model for sales.

Copper Cookware:

Probably the best stuff you can get, in a sense. Thin and highly heat conductive, you have great control over the cooking process. If you’re not what I’d consider an excellent cook though, you’d probably hate it.

“cure for dracaena root rot”

What did you do? Overwatered. Draceana family plants like things to dry out completely and then be drenched with water, repeat. If your roots are rotting you have a definite problem that needs to be corrected in terms of culture, your watering habits. You could cut off the rotted roots, sprinkle them with some growth hormone, but I’ve never tried that. You can also “dust” the cut ends with cinnamon, as it does have antifungal/bacterial qualities. I did that with my phal orchid that I inadvertantly purchased with rotted roots… it died nearly instantly; it would have died anyway.

“mdf versus wood and baseboard”

I love mdf, and with its excellent machinability (meaning it can be routed very easily), it’d be great stuff for any sort of accent trim — just as long as you plan to prime & paint the surfaces.

“purchase djarum blacks”

Esmokes.com is a great place, but I tend to buy mine up the hill at the Choice Cig Outlet.

“frederick md gay bars”

Well, there’s the Deerpark Lodge in between Frederick & Hagerstown… it is awful of course. If you’re in Frederick do yourself a favor and go on down to DC.

“the leaves on my dracaena are going yellow margarita”

If it’s just the bottom leaves nothing is wrong, the plant will yellow and drop the bottom leaves as it grows and this completely normal. However; if it is all over your plant is sick. You’re probably overwatering it, the roots are rotting. Sorry, but it is probably done for at this point.

“gay davey”

Yes, he is. ;)

“whoreboi”

That’d be Cole.

Kiwi Preserves:

I made this on a whim, it’s really good, but incredibly sweet, perhaps overly so. The recipe was in a booklet that came with my “Jelly Making Kit” by Ball. If I recall correctly I used liquid pectin, thus the recipe is probably in that package too.

“fix imac keyboard spilled”

Buy a new one, sorry; next time be more careful… I should talk, hah, I’ve ruined quite a few keyboards that way.

“pennsylvania liquer stores discount”

Could you get me one? Other than the monthly sales, which usually doesn’t correspond to what I want to buy, lol.

“ipod dock solder”

My ipod dock broke at the solder connection for the line out. I popped it open, soldered it back together and works as good as new; saving me forty dollars.

“i hate comcast”

Me too, but they do have a pretty good stranglehold on broadband internet and television services here; which is probably why I hate them so much. I’d much rather have satellite tv and keep my cable internet, but of course I’d still have to pay for TV, either directly or indirectly through a cute little non-subscriber fee they have; bastards.

“i want to shag”

Me too, someone in particular though, lol…

“what kind of math is used in making soap?”

Unless you want to get super technical, there isn’t much math involved anymore. You just plug your oil amounts into an internet lye calculator, like the one at thesage.com, and it’ll do all the hard work for you, with brilliant computer precision.

Pier 1 Pampas Chair:

I convinced the woman to buy one of these a while back, I absolutely love its understated modern simplicity. It’s also very comfortable.

“communication patterns in when harry met sally”

Oh dear… I’m dying of laughter here… but for reasons explained elsewhere.

Hanging Stemware Rack:

Make one, I did.

“buzzing lights dimmer switch ikea”

With Halogen lighting you will have a somewhat noticible buzz when using any ordinary dimmer. If you at least have a quality dimmer, say for example a Lutron that costs about $30, this hum/buzz shouldn’t be too annoying. Halogen lighting technically requires a special dimmer, and these cost between $100 and $200 depending on if the fixture is magnetic or electronic. If it’s magnetic it’ll be very heavy. ;)

Panasonic HT-05:

A very nice (affordable) surround sound system. I recommend it.

Pleather Headboard:

I made one about a year and a half ago, basically take a piece of plywood, wrap it in fabric batting, wrap with the vinyl, staple into place on the back. Hang it on the wall or affix it to the bedframe, good luck.

“is grinding with other guys disrespectful?”

If you’re doing it in front of your boyfriend, but otherwise have at it. ;)

“creme brulee didn’t set”

I had this problem recently, but I haven’t written about it yet. Okay, first problem is the recipe… but realistically that shouldn’t be a problem… a few eggs and some heavy cream, when heated and mixed together will turn into custard, it’s a chemical reaction fact. The real problem is temperature and time. Get an oven thermometer, when in doubt, just keep baking it, baking it, and baking it… It took 1.5 hours at least in my oven, when it should have only taken 40 minutes. Keep in mind that your ramekins might be a different size than the ones the recipe author used, bigger ones will take more time, smaller will take less.

“split box spring cost”

The difference in cost for a split box spring and a regular box spring is usually horrifying. Part of me really wishes I had bought the split box spring for my queen bed, but yikes… I’d go without and get a nice platform bed frame, and I’d still be saving money!

Geez, I could keep doing this forever, lol… I’m going to stop for now, my boredom has successfully been squished.