What’s All This Then!

“They” try to use the computer and you think:

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This was an unusual storm and just in time for my birthday. It slammed in from the southwest and hit my work place with 8 inches of snow before dumping 4 inches on my home. That night, the ice came and placed a half inch of glaze on everything. I captured the NC DOT webcam photos and made this quirky video using the beautiful (and free) Pinnacle VideoSpin. Youtube has disable the audio for the time being.

I tried to use Windows 7′s latest “Live Movie Maker” but Microsoft did an excellent job of crippling what was once a great program.

I finally made it to work on Wednesday. Driving home, a suitcase sized chunk of ice and wood jumped from a passing logging truck and smashed in my windshield. I got stay and work from home for another two days. Tomorrow, I get a new windshield. Happy Birthday to me!

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making friends with a 7 foot snowman

So, a couple of shots of whiskey later, I was out in my winter wonderland building this beauty of snow person … no, snowman. SNOWMAN! There I said. And I know I’m right in saying so because exactly one week later, the unflattering warm weather had reduced my snowman down to his snow balls. By that evening, he was only a wet spot on the ground and a frozen memory in my thoughts …

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In March of last year, I found a great deal on a new laptop. Or so I thought. For $350, I bought an Acer Aspire 7736Z-4088 running Windows 7 64-bit. Since it came with 3 gigs of RAM, I thought I would upgrade as soon as I had some funds available.

Last month, I went to crucial.com and bought a 2 gig module for about $40. I did this after looking at Acer user manual that had been installed on the computer. I was confident that this memory upgrade would be a no-brainer. That’s when the magic started.

As soon as I receive the memory, I excitedly began the installation process. Step one involved discovering that the user manual didn’t actually cover my particular laptop. There was no bottom panel as most laptops have to access the RAM.

No problem I thought. I got online with the Acer tech support (located, of course, in India), A polite gentleman speaking in a rough version of English, told me about my two choices. I could take my computer to one of their authorized dealers or he would have one of his other support people call and walk me through the process. Naturally I chose the second choice. Soon, a second Indian gentleman from Acer tech support called me. The very first step was to ask me about which payment option I wanted to use to buy their help for my computer. I chose none of the above.

Apparently this is why my laptop was so cheap. Aside from boxing material, there is no printed manuals, no operating system CDs or installation CDs. Just a laptop. Right now I’m searching the Internet for instructions to upgrade my RAM. I went as far as searching WikiLeaks since Acer information seems to be classified. It seems nobody else has changed their modules.

As soon as I get a moment, I’ll put my electronic skills of reverse engineering to work. I’m reasonably sure that the memory has to be accessed through the keyboard. I will try and document this process so you don’t have to go through an unfortunate company such as Acer.

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So begins the start of a new year. This isn’t going to be one of those years full of unexpected twists-and-turns. No, there are going to be a few expected twists-and-turns to be thrown into the mix of things.

One of which involves marriage. I know that marriage is a great and wonderful institution. But given what has transpired during 2010, I’m not sure at this point if I’m ready to be institutionalized…

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