more bad luck

[mellowtigger]

I've been without computer again. :(

The motherboard misbehaved once more, and I lost my ethernet port, so no network access for me. Being a new operating system install, I couldn't even get my archived games (via Steam or Impulse) installed for playtime during the holidays. It's surprising how useless a computer "feels" when it doesn't have network access. *sigh* I guess it's time to purchase my game titles at Good Old Games instead. At least their software can be installed under any circumstance. I fired up my decade-old laptop a few times, but it was painful to watch it try to compute. I didn't do much with it. I won't be catching up on the many weeks of missed blog posts.

I have a network card installed in my new computer, so we'll see how long this arrangement lasts. At last, I can read blogs and emails easily!

• I've been much too busy at work lately, but that major project is finally over.
• My boss quits on Friday, so work will still be much too hectic for having too few people.
• I go to dinner this Wednesday night with the company CEO as part of that award many weeks ago.

Meanwhile, I'm gaining weight and losing sleep. Not the best start to a new year.

Comments

[pi3832.livejournal.com]

Is this mobo under warranty? If so, send it back. It ain't right. Trust me. BTDT.

If it's not returnable, you might want to start watching Newegg's Shell Shockers (http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-583107-_-01052011) and Daily Deals (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=DailyDeals&LayoutView=list) for a new mobo. Indeed, create an account and sign up for their emails. They really do send you some good deals in their spam. (How manly of a mobo do you need? How would you feel about running Ubuntu or Fedora? Or XP? I've got this old Dell that I'm debating what to do with. I'm thinking I'll try to reuse the case, but I dunno about the mobo. You could have the XP license that came with the thing.)

For a cheap UPS, hit Wal*Mart (assuming you shop there--I really try to go anywhere else these days). Radio Shack, of all places, will occasionally have good deals on Closeouts. Unfortunately, I've been told that there's no pattern as to when the Closeouts get rolled out to the stores, so you just have to wander by periodically to see what they've got. And there's deals.woot.com (http://deals.woot.com/). (Speaking of deals--right now Woot.com (http://www.woot.com/) has a Samsung Bluetooth headset for $25, with a $20 mail-in rebate. I'm in for one--for $5 how can I not?)

Referring to an earlier post of yours about UPSes: I keep wondering if one could build a power conditioner out of some rectifiers and capacitors. Something that could deal with spike and drop-outs, though I don't know how much utility such a thing would be for brown-outs or black-outs. You can get >1 Farad caps somewhat cheaply from car audio places. (Indeed, I have one laying around that the controller electronics died on--that's what happens when you install your car's battery backwards--but I'm assuming the cap itself is still working. Seems a shame to just chuck it.) Can you consider AC to just be DC that swings between negative and positive voltage? Hmm... Adderall kicking in... must go learn electronics theory....

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EDIT:

Oh, and I've got a mobo at work that will lose its on-board NIC periodically. I just bought a cheapo PCI ethernet card and slapped it in the thing and have not had any problems since. (But I still expect the mobo to crap out in the near future. A previous board followed a similar pattern.)