doh.
January 11, 2004 by Eric Richardson
Computers obviously don't like me. I'm back in LA now, and came back to find that my computer here wasn't off because anybody turned it off, actually the power supply fan just fried. For those with a long memory, I've actually had this happen before.
So I went down to Radio Shack and bought a new fan, rigged it in the same way I had done the last fan (which also didn't really fit the spot), boot it up, and leave.
I come come back, with a new wireless router -- since they're so cheap these days I figured it was time for my computer to not play that role -- and start to work setting that up. I hop over to my computer to change some network settings, and... no /etc (the directory where most settings are). Apparently it's just vanished. I tried rebooting, to see if something funky just happened on boot, and... no grub (my boot-loader, the thing that makes the operating system go).
Right now I'm downloading a system rescue cd to see what I can figure out from that. I'm doing this via my laptop, which I'm still convinced could lose its hard drive at any moment.
Maybe this is a sign.
spyware galore
January 07, 2004 by Eric Richardson
Kathy's house got a cable modem installed today, so I just came over to get it all configured (they just installed the modem itself). Installation went fine, we've got the cable modem and a little Linksys wireless router sitting in the living room, and then a PCI wireless card in the computer upstairs. Running cable upstairs would have been a pain in their big old brick house, so wireless was just easier.
Their computer is a bit older, PIII era, running Windows 98SE. I noticed that as it was booting up, it just churned and churned, so I figured there were probably things running that really needn't be. I downloaded Ad Aware, ran it, and it found 400+ objects. Granted, some of those are harmless cookie files, but there's definitely some Gator floating around as well as some other nefarious crap. Time to get those blown away and see if things speed up.
keeping things up to date
January 07, 2004 by Eric Richardson
In the name of keeping things up to date, I just went through and redid my web favorites page. Now it's a bit more up to date in terms of LA related sites I read and links to bands that I've seen around town. I need to rethink most of the stuff under favorites and try and see how all that can integrate into the site better.
mmmm wifi
January 07, 2004 by Eric Richardson
Sitting right now at Founders, in Grand Rapids, MI, with Alan and Joel. Places with free wifi are very cool, but something I've never really gotten into in LA. I need to find more cool places to sit, have a drink, and get some work done. It's much cooler to sit at a place like this than it is to sit on the couch in my apartment.
still kickin...
January 07, 2004 by Eric Richardson
My laptop taunts me. It wants to work. It boots up. It pretends to be fine. And then the drive's like, "well, maybe I don't want to work. maybe i'll just take my time getting your data." Any time you're getting percentages in the iowait line in top -- when you're not really doing anything, mind you -- that's not a good thing. But, as of right now, it's running. If I can nurse it back to California, my life will be a lot better.
Wimpy machine... Just suck it up and work.