Journals
27! What what.
Gather round and let me tell you a story. It's a story of hope and despair, sadness and enlightenment, desperation and joy, life and death. It's a story of my computer upgrade.
It all started towards the end of last year. Lots of people on TWHL were getting new graphics cards, and I was starting to think that it might be a good idea. Ant bought some Mac thing for twice the retail price so he could play all those mac games that exist, and Strider bought something ridiculously overpriced so he could play games from the 90's. Archie has had a crazy GPU for a while but he's just rubbing it in our faces with his fancy new screens. Other regulars in the upgrade club include notable pillars of our community such as DoctorAmazing, TawnosPrime, and Jessie.
So I thought: enough is enough! I will no longer be a spectator, I must take action! And action I took. I went to my local internet providing mechanism (my work computer) and ordered myself an upgrade with intense focus and concentration. The upgrade in question? It was none other than an Nvidia GTX 970 with 4GB RAM, 400mb of drivers, support for VR, Shadowplay, built-in toaster, plus I opted for the Roomba attachment and extra fries on the side.
My boss has a parking spot at work, so I knocked him out by giving him a light tap on the head with a ball-peen hammer and grabbed his keys and escaped before somebody could initiate a safety share about getting hammered in the workplace. As I swerved my way over to the computer store (I've been playing GTA recently so I couldn't remember which lane to drive in), I imagined all the incredible things I could do with my new graphics card. I could increase the draw distance in GTA V by 10%! Play Rainbow Six Siege in slightly higher detail than potato mode! Experience Half-Life in a graphical fidelity that's never before been possible! I was so excited that I almost ran over a particularly wide person on the footpath, but fortunately I managed to avoid them with only a small amount of collateral damage.
The gentleman that served me at the store had an incredibly impressive afro. I'm talking big, puffy, and really tall. His hair was larger than the rest of his head. This afro was hypnotising in its puffy majesty. I stood there staring for about 10 minutes while he was trying to serve me. Eventually I managed to exchange an impressive sum of Australian dollarey-doos for a chunk of plastic and steel that a Chinese dude made for ten bucks. I asked the guy for a lock of hair to remember his afro by, but he refused. I left empty handed, but that hair will forever be etched in my mind and I will compare all future hair to that noble image.
After dreaming about my new graphics card on the train home, I finally managed to walk through my front door and get ready for upgrading procedures. I took all the standard precautions, of course: take off pants, put computer on fuzzy carpet, don't bother unplugging the power because honestly who bothers with that nonsense. I was under my desk without much light so I put my phone into flashlight mode and balanced it awkwardly on the edge of the case.
After unplugging a few cords running over the old card, I was able to yank it out with only a little bit of brute force. A few things snapped but they probably weren't very important. The new card was jet black and reminded me of a super sleek racing car, if a racing car could be installed in a PCIe slot. I carefully jammed it into said slot and reconnected the power and whatever else was lying around that looked like it would fit into something. I stood the computer back up and pressed the magic button.
I grinned when I saw my motherboard's BIOS screen flash up. The GPU was working! The grin lasted about 5 seconds before it turned into a slight frown. The BIOS screen was still there. A minute later it changed into a blinking cursor on a black background. 5 minutes later, nothing had changed.
Have you ever felt that sinking feeling when you know something's gone horribly wrong? I have. Not only today, but in the past as well. My first GPU upgrade was at a LAN party, upgrading my GeForce MX440 to a FX5200. I eagerly installed the card and flicked the switch. All was going well until I smelled something. It was the metallic smell of ozone, the smell of fried electronics. The tab on the card was blocked by my computer case, and the AGP pins hadn't connected properly. The resulting short fried a capacitor in my motherboard. The rest of that LAN was not an enjoyable experience for me. It took 6 months for Intel's warranty department to issue a replacement.
Anyway the point is that I have felt this before. Fortunately I've learnt my lesson and I knew the pins were connected properly, and nothing smelled of ozone so I was trying to stay positive. I shut it down and checked that everything was seated properly, that the power was connected, and that my PSU had enough juice to support the card in the first place. Everything was okay. I tried again, and still nothing happened. The sinking feeling increased. Something's broken. I paid 500 dollarey-doos for this damn thing. The store is not known for its refund policy, and its support is Valve-quality. What the hell am I supposed to do?
I was desperate. And what do people do when they're desperate? They try everything. In my case, 'everything' included looking for motherboard BIOS updates. You know, that thing that absolutely never does anything to fix your actual problem? But it doesn't matter, I was desperate. I did it anyway. The last update on my motherboard was published in 2012. Not a good sign. But even still, I did it anyway. There was indeed a BIOS update, and at this point I didn't really care if it made things worse than before.
So I flashed the BIOS. I squeezed my hands together as the progress bar progressed. I popped a stress ball. The blood in my fingers experienced a pressure so great that it would still be in liquid form if I was sitting on the surface of the sun. The progress bar finished and my computer rebooted. I crossed all my fingers and toes and even digits that I didn't even know could be crossed. The BIOS booted...
... and worked! A BIOS update actually solved my problem! It's even less likely than the second coming of Jesus. But it worked. Windows started, and the driver installer struggled to start up and eventually gave me a green light after choking on installations for a while.
I celebrated by turning all the settings up in GTA. I can now make everything in the background incredibly blurry without it dropping frames! It looks absolutely awful so I turned it off, but isn't it nice that GTA with maximum settings also doubles as an "I'm not wearing my glasses" simulator. I'll now go back to playing games that I was able to max out on my old card anyway. New games are expensive, you know?
TLDR: Got a new graphics card, GTX 970. Didn't work initially, but for the first time ever a motherboard BIOS update actually solved the problem. Story may be slightly exaggerated in places. Not that guy's hair though - it was 100% real.
It all started towards the end of last year. Lots of people on TWHL were getting new graphics cards, and I was starting to think that it might be a good idea. Ant bought some Mac thing for twice the retail price so he could play all those mac games that exist, and Strider bought something ridiculously overpriced so he could play games from the 90's. Archie has had a crazy GPU for a while but he's just rubbing it in our faces with his fancy new screens. Other regulars in the upgrade club include notable pillars of our community such as DoctorAmazing, TawnosPrime, and Jessie.
So I thought: enough is enough! I will no longer be a spectator, I must take action! And action I took. I went to my local internet providing mechanism (my work computer) and ordered myself an upgrade with intense focus and concentration. The upgrade in question? It was none other than an Nvidia GTX 970 with 4GB RAM, 400mb of drivers, support for VR, Shadowplay, built-in toaster, plus I opted for the Roomba attachment and extra fries on the side.
My boss has a parking spot at work, so I knocked him out by giving him a light tap on the head with a ball-peen hammer and grabbed his keys and escaped before somebody could initiate a safety share about getting hammered in the workplace. As I swerved my way over to the computer store (I've been playing GTA recently so I couldn't remember which lane to drive in), I imagined all the incredible things I could do with my new graphics card. I could increase the draw distance in GTA V by 10%! Play Rainbow Six Siege in slightly higher detail than potato mode! Experience Half-Life in a graphical fidelity that's never before been possible! I was so excited that I almost ran over a particularly wide person on the footpath, but fortunately I managed to avoid them with only a small amount of collateral damage.
The gentleman that served me at the store had an incredibly impressive afro. I'm talking big, puffy, and really tall. His hair was larger than the rest of his head. This afro was hypnotising in its puffy majesty. I stood there staring for about 10 minutes while he was trying to serve me. Eventually I managed to exchange an impressive sum of Australian dollarey-doos for a chunk of plastic and steel that a Chinese dude made for ten bucks. I asked the guy for a lock of hair to remember his afro by, but he refused. I left empty handed, but that hair will forever be etched in my mind and I will compare all future hair to that noble image.
After dreaming about my new graphics card on the train home, I finally managed to walk through my front door and get ready for upgrading procedures. I took all the standard precautions, of course: take off pants, put computer on fuzzy carpet, don't bother unplugging the power because honestly who bothers with that nonsense. I was under my desk without much light so I put my phone into flashlight mode and balanced it awkwardly on the edge of the case.
After unplugging a few cords running over the old card, I was able to yank it out with only a little bit of brute force. A few things snapped but they probably weren't very important. The new card was jet black and reminded me of a super sleek racing car, if a racing car could be installed in a PCIe slot. I carefully jammed it into said slot and reconnected the power and whatever else was lying around that looked like it would fit into something. I stood the computer back up and pressed the magic button.
I grinned when I saw my motherboard's BIOS screen flash up. The GPU was working! The grin lasted about 5 seconds before it turned into a slight frown. The BIOS screen was still there. A minute later it changed into a blinking cursor on a black background. 5 minutes later, nothing had changed.
Have you ever felt that sinking feeling when you know something's gone horribly wrong? I have. Not only today, but in the past as well. My first GPU upgrade was at a LAN party, upgrading my GeForce MX440 to a FX5200. I eagerly installed the card and flicked the switch. All was going well until I smelled something. It was the metallic smell of ozone, the smell of fried electronics. The tab on the card was blocked by my computer case, and the AGP pins hadn't connected properly. The resulting short fried a capacitor in my motherboard. The rest of that LAN was not an enjoyable experience for me. It took 6 months for Intel's warranty department to issue a replacement.
Anyway the point is that I have felt this before. Fortunately I've learnt my lesson and I knew the pins were connected properly, and nothing smelled of ozone so I was trying to stay positive. I shut it down and checked that everything was seated properly, that the power was connected, and that my PSU had enough juice to support the card in the first place. Everything was okay. I tried again, and still nothing happened. The sinking feeling increased. Something's broken. I paid 500 dollarey-doos for this damn thing. The store is not known for its refund policy, and its support is Valve-quality. What the hell am I supposed to do?
I was desperate. And what do people do when they're desperate? They try everything. In my case, 'everything' included looking for motherboard BIOS updates. You know, that thing that absolutely never does anything to fix your actual problem? But it doesn't matter, I was desperate. I did it anyway. The last update on my motherboard was published in 2012. Not a good sign. But even still, I did it anyway. There was indeed a BIOS update, and at this point I didn't really care if it made things worse than before.
So I flashed the BIOS. I squeezed my hands together as the progress bar progressed. I popped a stress ball. The blood in my fingers experienced a pressure so great that it would still be in liquid form if I was sitting on the surface of the sun. The progress bar finished and my computer rebooted. I crossed all my fingers and toes and even digits that I didn't even know could be crossed. The BIOS booted...
... and worked! A BIOS update actually solved my problem! It's even less likely than the second coming of Jesus. But it worked. Windows started, and the driver installer struggled to start up and eventually gave me a green light after choking on installations for a while.
I celebrated by turning all the settings up in GTA. I can now make everything in the background incredibly blurry without it dropping frames! It looks absolutely awful so I turned it off, but isn't it nice that GTA with maximum settings also doubles as an "I'm not wearing my glasses" simulator. I'll now go back to playing games that I was able to max out on my old card anyway. New games are expensive, you know?
TLDR: Got a new graphics card, GTX 970. Didn't work initially, but for the first time ever a motherboard BIOS update actually solved the problem. Story may be slightly exaggerated in places. Not that guy's hair though - it was 100% real.
I have a handful of throwaway email accounts on my web host. As such, some passwords are pretty half-assed and they may even be things like AAA123456. Today I got an alert from the support team at my web host:
Our servers have detected the passwords of several of your email accounts are insecure. Because they include the u sername (sic) or domain in them. [Note: not the case]
Please change your passwords from your control panel and re-enable the accounts. Follow these steps to build a strong and secure password:
(typical secure password advice removed)
My reply:
How do can you even tell that? Do you happen to be storing passwords in plain text instead of running them through a one-way algorithm as would be appropriate for a hosting industry of your caliber?
I can't wait to see what they reply, but it looks like I'll be changing providers soon...
===== UPDATE 1 =====
Dear User:
The server detects it automatically and modifies them, at no point we can see them because they are encrypted.
Yeah totally encrypted. With ROT13. TWICE!
Our servers have detected the passwords of several of your email accounts are insecure. Because they include the u sername (sic) or domain in them. [Note: not the case]
Please change your passwords from your control panel and re-enable the accounts. Follow these steps to build a strong and secure password:
(typical secure password advice removed)
My reply:
How do can you even tell that? Do you happen to be storing passwords in plain text instead of running them through a one-way algorithm as would be appropriate for a hosting industry of your caliber?
I can't wait to see what they reply, but it looks like I'll be changing providers soon...
===== UPDATE 1 =====
Dear User:
The server detects it automatically and modifies them, at no point we can see them because they are encrypted.
Yeah totally encrypted. With ROT13. TWICE!
I'm sure I mentioned it a few months ago, but as part of my final year at university our class is put into teams and each has to design and build a radio controlled model aircraft to perform a specific task as set by the AIAA foundation's Design Build Fly competition.
This year the aim is to build two aircraft; a Production aircraft, which must be capable of carrying a 32oz Gatorade bottle around a set course, and a Mission Support aircraft, which must be capable of carrying the production aircraft (stored internally, disassembled) around the same course.
We've spent the last semester designing the two aircraft, and manufacture started last week.
I'm in the fuselage group for our team, and in the last few days we've been busy building. Since the production aircraft is intended to be broken down into different parts, we've been able to work on the fuselage independently of the other groups (wings, gear, etc.)
The majority of the design is carbon fibre tubing and laser cut plywood and balsa wood. Here you can see the laser cutter cutting out some wing ribs from balsa:
While the laser cutting is pretty impressive, the one they have at the university isn't great. Because the plywood we're using isn't laser grade, parts need to be cut out in multiple passes, but the cuts are in slightly different places on each pass, so they don't come out very well.
Here's an image of what little we could salvage of our first attempt at a fuselage, with a Coke bottle for scale:
Here'a a pic of our partially constructed second attempt:
To account for the poor accuracy of the machine, the parts were all cut slightly oversized, and then hand fitted. While this is labour intensive (two of us spent three or four hours filing and sanding and we've got more to do tomorrow), it allows for a very close fit:
Those two images are of the parts we have ready so far (plus one that was accidentally broken). There's no glue or fasteners used there, but we were able to hold it by the tailboom and shake it fairly vigorously without anything coming off. Also in those pictures you can see my two 3D printed parts. I was pretty excited about those as it was the first time I had seen something I had designed on a computer as an object in the real world.
Also, as an extra: While the laser cutter isn't very accurate, it's perfectly fine for small objects that can be cut in one corner of the cutter bed. So I've been making keyrings.
I have a few more designs I'd like to cut in the next week or so:
This year the aim is to build two aircraft; a Production aircraft, which must be capable of carrying a 32oz Gatorade bottle around a set course, and a Mission Support aircraft, which must be capable of carrying the production aircraft (stored internally, disassembled) around the same course.
We've spent the last semester designing the two aircraft, and manufacture started last week.
I'm in the fuselage group for our team, and in the last few days we've been busy building. Since the production aircraft is intended to be broken down into different parts, we've been able to work on the fuselage independently of the other groups (wings, gear, etc.)
The majority of the design is carbon fibre tubing and laser cut plywood and balsa wood. Here you can see the laser cutter cutting out some wing ribs from balsa:
Here's an image of what little we could salvage of our first attempt at a fuselage, with a Coke bottle for scale:
Also, as an extra: While the laser cutter isn't very accurate, it's perfectly fine for small objects that can be cut in one corner of the cutter bed. So I've been making keyrings.
Mere days after we lose Bowie, cancer has done the world yet another great disservice and taken Alan Rickman from us.
Fuck you, cancer.
Fuck you, cancer.
Damn, I missed my sixth birthday.
I played with some friends Exploding Kittens. This game is awesomely frustrating. But hey, at least I rubbed the belly of a pig-a-corn.
Do you guys know of any cool boardgames? What do you say about Pandemic?
Do you guys know of any cool boardgames? What do you say about Pandemic?
For you, which is the worst map of some game you played?
So I finally got around to playing HL2 the other day (yeah nah don't ask why it's taken me this long).
Because the game was the first one to use the Source engine, I can't help but notice that a lot of the game puzzles and gameplay focus on the physics, as if Valve was attempting to exploit this part of the engine to the max.
ie. You get a tool that can pick up objects around the world. You can't shoot to destroy turrets, they have to fall over. You build see-saws in the sewers to escape, etc.
Maybe I'm just cynical but because I've played games post HL2 which feature similar physics engines that aren't exploited like this, I'm finding this part of the game a bit overkill. kind of like how there are games build to exploit a graphics engine, this feels like it was built to exploit a physics engine.
Also, the story isn't explained very well either.
And Alyx is actually pretty annoying.
But apart from that Its alright.
Because the game was the first one to use the Source engine, I can't help but notice that a lot of the game puzzles and gameplay focus on the physics, as if Valve was attempting to exploit this part of the engine to the max.
ie. You get a tool that can pick up objects around the world. You can't shoot to destroy turrets, they have to fall over. You build see-saws in the sewers to escape, etc.
Maybe I'm just cynical but because I've played games post HL2 which feature similar physics engines that aren't exploited like this, I'm finding this part of the game a bit overkill. kind of like how there are games build to exploit a graphics engine, this feels like it was built to exploit a physics engine.
Also, the story isn't explained very well either.
And Alyx is actually pretty annoying.
But apart from that Its alright.
Time flies. It slips away like sand between your fingers every second you're not looking. One day you realise all that time has gone, we're not here long enough. Don't let it run past with impunity. Have fun, love others. Trap that time in your heart and make it last forever.
Now go out there and have a great 2016!
Now go out there and have a great 2016!
My book (electronic version) is available for only $5 until January 8th!
https://www.packtpub.com/game-development/source-sdk-game-development-essentials
Thought you all would like to know.
https://www.packtpub.com/game-development/source-sdk-game-development-essentials
Thought you all would like to know.
The time has finally come. I will return to the upper ranks of the PC Master Race! After sliding down the ranks over the last few years with old faithful:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 GHz
Motherboard: EVGA nForce 750I SLI FTW
Memory: 8GB DDR2 800 4x2GB (2 native, 2 overclocked)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM
Video Card: XFX GeForce GTX 285 1GB
Case: Cooler Master Haf 922
Power Supply: Corsair TX850 850W
Keyboard: Generic Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518
I've just ordered the parts to build my new rig, and it will be Glorious!!!
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4
Motherboard: MSI Z170M Mortar Micro ATX
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB 4x4GB DDR4 2400
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" SSD
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM HDD
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM HDD
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0
Case: Corsair Air 240
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm Fans
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm Fans
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Razer Naga Hex Wired Laser Mouse
Other: Razer Sabertooth
Before you say anything, yes, the HDDs will be in RAID 0, and while the risk of failure is greater, given their reputation and my personal experience, I'm willing to take the risk for the performance increase and reduced cost for my game installs.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 GHz
Motherboard: EVGA nForce 750I SLI FTW
Memory: 8GB DDR2 800 4x2GB (2 native, 2 overclocked)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 3.5" 7200RPM
Video Card: XFX GeForce GTX 285 1GB
Case: Cooler Master Haf 922
Power Supply: Corsair TX850 850W
Keyboard: Generic Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518
I've just ordered the parts to build my new rig, and it will be Glorious!!!
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4
Motherboard: MSI Z170M Mortar Micro ATX
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB 4x4GB DDR4 2400
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" SSD
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM HDD
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM HDD
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0
Case: Corsair Air 240
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm Fans
Case Fan: Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm Fans
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Razer Naga Hex Wired Laser Mouse
Other: Razer Sabertooth
Before you say anything, yes, the HDDs will be in RAID 0, and while the risk of failure is greater, given their reputation and my personal experience, I'm willing to take the risk for the performance increase and reduced cost for my game installs.
Big year. Got married and had a kid. Mad decent.
