Computers – Regular Guy

A New Challenge

brian — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 01:05:54 +0000

I don’t really know why I decided to start “creating content” around the games I play on Football Manager. I think it had to do with a lot of the things I get involved with – I saw someone else doing it and figured I could do it too.

I have no illusions about this endeavor. I just want to have fun. Sure, other people have made this into a career, but that has never entered my mind. I really just want people to enjoy my videos and watch for more than a few seconds when I stream.

But if that is what I want, doesn’t that mean I have hopes of getting enough of those people to make some money off of this? In other words, maybe I am lying to myself in the previous paragraph.

I will 100 percent cop to this. Sure, I would love if I got more attention on this, but I know others have a greater head start, more free time to dedicate to this and – to be brutally honest – aren’t 53 years old playing a video game online for the enjoyment of others.

So I will keep going. Because one of the reasons I decided to make videos and ultimately start streaming was to become better at the game., if I put myself out there, I figured I would pay more attention to the nuances so that I could succeed more.

That has happened somewhat. My goal of winning a championship for D.C. United in five years of gameplay came true in just three years. I also had a successful season with the low-level English team I am playing on my Twitch stream.

But mostly I have discovered a whole community of people who love this game and, for the most part, just like to support one another. And those kind of connections are enough for me.

Just don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.

A Day Late and Many Dollars Short

brian — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 19:38:20 +0000

I made a private promise that I would blog every day in March. I didn’t share this with anyone because I know myself and had low expectations. But here is my first post of March explaining why I didn’t post on the 1st of March.

The problems started a while back. We randomly lost Internet one day. I went through rigamarole with Comcast online and eventually got the service restored. At the end of the call, I agreed that a tech did not need to come out because everything was working.

Plus, I might have to pay for that service call. Mind you, I can afford to do that. The idea just didn’t appeal to me if everything was fixed.

Fast forward a few weeks and we start having random dropouts. The only solution is to turn off both the modem and router and turn them back on. High-level stuff.

Then it starts happening more. Like, every 30-60 minutes sometimes. So I contact Comcast again, this time on Feb. 28. They immediately tell me I need a new modem – which is not untrue because I have increased the speed of our package, but that shouldn’t be causing the problem. I tell them we need someone to come look at the line into the house.

So they schedule that. Then they try to move up our appointment for a time I told them we were not available. So I get snippy in the Twitter DM thread and they schedule us for the afternoon of March 1.

The first thing the guy does is say we need a new modem. Then he spends a while working on the outside lines, which had been damaged by squirrels. That gets repaired, and he tells us that everything is working fine.

Then it dies again. Reset. Dies again. So I do what any smart person should do – grudgingly admit they may have been right and head out to Target to get a new modem.

Setup is easy, peasy. We climb into bed. Maria turns on our Fire Stick.

And it dies again. At this point, I’m gutted. It can’t be our router. It just can’t. I don’t know why I refuse to accept this, but I do. So I do a factory reset of the router. Then another when it won’t connect. Then a third. At some point in there, I order a new mesh router package on Amazon.

My router finally connects. Then is not connected when I wake up in the middle of the night. I resign myself to us having to just use the hard-wired connection to the modem and the data on our phones until the new router shows up. Until …

Target has pretty much the same router for the same price. So I got it this morning. And it’s easy to set up. Now we have Internet again, hopefully for good.

So that’s why I will write a blog post every day in March except one.

Mmmmmm, Pi

brian — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:37:43 +0000

As a kid, I didn’t really eat pie very often. When we had dessert, I most often went for cake or ice cream. Or brownies. Or some combination of those. Or all of them.

Regardless, I have developed an appreciation for pie later in life. I will never turn down some warm apple pie or a decadent slice of key lime pie.

I have found a new kind of pie I want to try recently: raspberry. But you can’t eat this kind of pie. I have bought a Raspberry Pi, a mini-computer designed to teach students how to code and explore the world of technology.

The device, created in England, has started to take over in some geek circles. Since I like to operate on the fringes of that culture sometimes, I naturally started to try and figure out whether I could benefit from buying the $35 processor.

Maybe I could explore the world of coding like the creators of the Pi intended. I could bury my nose in books and tutorials and develop a new skill late in life.

This prospect sometimes appeals to me. Some friends still tease me because I built our home computer myself a couple of years ago. I didn’t do any electrical work or coding. I simply bought the individual pieces and put it together to try and save money as well as to find out if I could accomplish the task.

I did, even though the whole process had a few hiccups. That just helped me learn some new things, which I really like. That’s what I had in mind when I started doing my research on Raspberry Pi online.

The more I read online, the more I realized that I could choose one of two paths. Sure, I could learn coding and development like the creators of the product intended. Or I could take the work other people had already done and make something cool for myself.

I didn’t have a tough time making that decision, especially after I read about the number of people who have loaded software onto the machine and created their own old-school arcade machine for their house.

Yep, this tiny $35 computer – with a bunch of other accessories – can play Donkey Kong and Frogger and Missile Command and, God willing, Dig Dug. Need I say more?

The Internet has many sites with very simple instructions of how to load the proper software. A bunch of sites sell joysticks and buttons. I have an old monitor I can use for the display.

But these plans also call for the construction of some sort of cabinet to house the entire project. I mean, what good is an old-school arcade setup if it does not have some sort of custom housing? The whole thing will look cheesy if I just have a table cluttered with a monitor, joystick and the Raspberry Pi.

I just don’t know if my plan to learn new things as I get older can handle carpentry. First of all, the tools are expensive. Secondly, I like all of my fingers the way they are.

So the search begins to find someone who has already made cabinets for idiots like me who know their limits. I think I’ll have some pie as a consolation prize as I look.

Mission Accomplished … Finally

brian — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:43:57 +0000

I had a dream. I dreamt I could order piece of a computer on the Internet and easily build my own machine. My family would live in a land of speed and magic.

That’s what I thought three months ago when I hatched this scheme. To make things worse, I told friends about it and even wrote a column. A couple of people I know asked me questions in the ensuing weeks. I had some trouble carving time into my schedule at first to set up the new system so I had a good excuse.

I finally had a chance one night to hook everything up. As I wrote before, I have done a number of upgrades on computers in the past, but this would be my first attempt at building one from scratch.

Naturally, the thing didn’t work on my first try. I got a whir from the fan, but the rest of the system wouldn’t start. I took a few deep breaths and headed to the Internet to see if I could figure out how to diagnose the problem.

I Googled and Googled and Googled. I asked friends who work with computers. I poked and prodded and sadly traced the problem to the motherboard, which meant I had to take everything out, package up the bad part and wait for a replacement.

After that interminable wait, I found out one of the most fun parts associated with buying things online. They sent me the wrong motherboard.

I never expected the process to go without a hitch. I had built in a certain level of expected stress. But this just drove me up a tree. How could they get one bad part, go to the shelf and grab a totally different model?

Luckily, it fit. But it didn’t work. Well, at least I didn’t think it did. The system started running, but nothing would come up on the monitor, and I couldn’t figure out the problem. So I sent the part back and used the refund to buy another one, only to get the same result.

At this point, I had wasted close to two months and had a very expensive coffee table sitting in my basement. If anything other than the motherboard had caused the problem, I could easily find a replacement part.

It had to come to this for me. I got cocky and now had to pay. So I schlepped the whole system to a computer shop downtown and hoped for the best. I was getting near the point where my investment would not have saved money over buying a similar system already put together.

Thankfully, the folks in town fixed me up with no extra cost, and I now have a brand-spanking new computer which kicks the butt of our old system. That old dinosaur now sits in the basement.

That got me to thinking about how I could salvage its useable parts. With just a few upgrades, we could have another spiffy new-ish computer. I think I can handle any problem that comes my way now. Just don’t remind me I said that when I’m crying over the latest snafu in this project.

Brian the Builder

brian — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:48:10 +0000

As I wrote this, the pieces of my new computer sit in several boxes in my basement.

I didn’t go on some angry tirade and break the thing apart. The shipping company didn’t drop a box and shatter the thing. In fact, nothing bad happened.

I have decided to build our new computer from scratch.

All of this started when we noticed the ink fading on the small laser printer we bought several years ago. Since ink for those kinds of printers can get a little pricey, we had talked about just getting a newer printer with more capabilities.

That led to a discussion over buying a new monitor since ours is about the size of a standard washing machine. That led to the natural discussion of just getting an entirely new system.

Of course, I had mixed feelings about that idea. I love new gadgets, but I hate paying for them. I drool with envy over the details of new computers, but get a little queasy when I look at the prices.

I figured I would approach this situation slowly and rationally. I would look at special offers from some respected retailers, both in their stores and on their websites. I would research the options and come to the best solution taking our computing needs and finances into account.

Then I saw a really good deal for a “barebones” package and just bought it. These packages come with all the necessary components, but require the buyer to assemble everything. I did do some research because the first package I saw sold out before I had a chance to buy it. I just didn’t run it by my wife.

She didn’t mind because I usually take care of computer decisions anyway. I got the deal at a pretty good price and promised that the annoying problems our current system has would go away. Well, they will if I build the thing correctly.

I have never built a computer like this before. I have installed almost all of the individual parts at one point or another in an attempt to upgrade our existing computer, but this is completely different.

The project will force me to deal with lots of screws and wires and connectors. I’ll have to delicately handle sensitive electronic equipment. I will have responsibility for every problem that crops up.

For some reason, I really didn’t think of these things until the boxes arrived. I opened them and saw another set of boxes, each holding something which I would need to take care of in order to create a real working computer.

What have I done?

I usually had an out when something didn’t work on the computer. I could blame some nameless, faceless person who obviously screwed things up in the factory. Now all that will fall on my shoulders.

By my estimation, the stress of putting together the computer will turn this into a month-long task. I’ll read every web page I can find on the process and approach each screw as if my life depends on it.

Because if I mess this up, that might be the case.

UPDATE: Naturally, the computer did not work when I put it together. I think I traced the problem back to the motherboard – of course the most important part – and am waiting for a new one to arrive. I pray that this one works.

Apple of My Eye

brian — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:30:30 +0000

Apparently Apple released some sort of new phone the other day. I think I heard about it because people were camped out in front of stores hours before they opened to get the new product.

I may be wrong though because I think these Apple people were camped out in front of stores a few weeks ago for something else new, something I heard described as just a really big phone without the phone capability.

So I didn’t know at first if they really had a new phone out or if these people had just missed the memo and showed up too late for the iPad thingamajig. Or maybe they just like spending the night in front of Apple stores.

In most circumstances, the release of a new cell phone would not make good fodder for ridicule. But this is Apple. Not only do they make great products, they make great products we can make fun of.

The whole cult of Apple never really made sense to me. They make cool things, but that’s about as far as I can go with the whole concept.

To me, a computer is a computer. That whole concept got a little out of whack with the Apple people. They didn’t just have a computer. They had something you had to adore. They didn’t care if no one made software that you could run on their computers. It was an Apple. They were special.

Some of this comes from the fact that Apple computers never had to worry about viruses. The people who worship Steve Jobs saw this as some sort of superiority, but I knew the real answer.

The hackers didn’t like them. As we all know in these days of social networking, it’s all about capturing friends. We didn’t know it then, but we PC users were winning the friend battle a long time ago. We didn’t always know what kind of people we were consorting with, but at least they liked us.

Then the worst possible thing happened. Apple came out with the iPod. People like me tried to pretend that other music players could stand on their own, but, deep down, we knew that was a lie.

I finally gave in a couple of years ago and bought an iPod. I immediately fell in love, but knew that I could limit this fascination to one product. Then they came up with the iPhone. Then the iPad. They really knew how to appeal to my gadgety side.

But these were Apple products. They didn’t just come with fun technology, You got a side dish of smug. They weren’t just cool things to have. You had to stand in line to get them.

I never bought it. I wanted to, but I haven’t. Part of that is because I just don’t feel like spending that much money. Part of it is because I feel more cool trying to not be cool.

The way I see it, no technology completely hits the mark when it first comes out. So these people spending all night in front of Apple stores are simply weeding out the bad technology for me.

Without them, I wouldn’t get all the sleep I need. Just don’t tell them how much I appreciate it.

An Efficient Day

brian — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:23:06 +0000

I stopped by to see Maria at work last weekend. She just started working at a shop called Treasures downtown. I had nothing better to do since it was near the end of the Thanksgiving holiday.

With several days off, Maria at work, and Bridget spending several days at my mother-in-law’s, I had lots of time to kill. Luckily, I have almost qualified for an advanced degree in wasting excess free time. I looked at the few days as a challenge, not a burden.

I did the things that I do best. I played video games. I practiced my guitar. I watched a few of my favorite “Leave it to Beaver” episodes.

I did actually accomplish some things, believe it or not. I did the dishes. Twice, I think I sorted through mail I hadn’t touched in a few weeks. I did one or two other important things, but I don’t really remember what they were.

When Maria and her co-workers asked me about my day last Saturday, I had trouble coming up with a lot of concrete examples of what I had done since she left for work six hours earlier. After thinking about it, I remembered my one big accomplishment that day.

I consolidated all the music I had stored on each of my computers.

For some reason, they didn’t get the importance of this job. They all looked at me as if I sat on the couch all day and twiddled my thumbs.

I tried to tell them that it took a lot of work. I had to take the portable hard drive from the basement computer and hook it up to the office computer upstairs. I had already made sure the files on the portable hard drive matched up with those on the laptop in the basement.

Then I had to figure out what songs I had only on the office computer and move them to the portable hard drive. After that, I had to figure out what songs I needed to move from the portable hard drive onto the office computer.

I was very busy. And that didn’t even take into account moving the portable hard drive back downstairs so I could transfer any music I found upstairs onto the laptop.

Do people realize how many times I had to click the mouse to get all this work done? And I don’t even want to begin to explain how stressful things got when the portable hard drive wouldn’t start up after I brought it upstairs. Thank God I noticed that the plug in the adapter had slipped a little out of place. If something had seriously gone wrong, I don’t know how the rest of my day would have went.

But I survived that terrible crisis and managed to get out for a while to visit my wife and her friends. I really don’t care if I don’t get the proper recognition for my hard work. My time will come.

I still need to synch up all my digital photos and other files. But that will have to wait for a while. I’m still recovering from this last job.

Jealous Computer

brian — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:07:14 +0000

You are supposed to be reading a column about Easter, but my computer is jealous. At least that’s the only explanation I came come up with why my laptop died the other day.

I wrote while I ate lunch at work and everything seemed fine. An hour later, I popped open the lid of my two-year-old workhorse so I could listen to some of the music I had stored on there.

I don’t know a ton about computers, but the message that popped up didn’t sound good. And I didn’t know how to fix the problem it described.

I was in deep trouble, but I was a little happy at the same time.

I wasn’t completely happy with what I had written. I just struggled with trying to make sense of the topic.

Some of you probably wonder how that’s different from every other week. Very funny.

But the column was probably the only thing on the computer that I oculd not replace. When you see one of those errors screens – especially ones that say a file is missing or corrupt – you tend to panic over all the important things you have lost, like Triumph the Insult Comic dog videos and photoshopped pictures of important world figures.

I had all that covered. I had transferred all my data to my new desktop computer a few weeks ago. That set the stage for me to try and make my laptop work a little faster.

The desktop has a bigger hard drive and is faster, so it could handle being the keeper of useless information. I restored everything on the laptop back to its original settings and started from scratch.

I didn’t try to get too ambitious. First, I just wanted the new wireless networking equipment in my house to work. Because we all know that it is essential to be able to record an episode of “South Park” on my TiVo and transfer it to both my desktop and laptop computers so I can watch it at any time.

That’s just common knowledge.

I had no problems for a few days. I transferred a bunch of music back to my laptop so I could use it as a jukebox while at work. I had a few glitches, but showed remarkable (for me) patience in the process.

I took the laptop with me to lunch on Wednesday like I do most every day. I turned it on, plugged it into the network and started to write about Easter. After 45 minutes or so, I gave up and decided to finish writing that evening.

On the way back to my office, I heard some strange beeping sound a few times. I thought it was something coming from another building. When I heard it in the elevator in my building, I knew it was coming from my bag.

Maybe my computer had an urgent message for me. Maybe it had finished writing my column and actually made me sound funny. Maybe I’m really a superhero and the League of Justice is trying to contact me.

Nope. I just have a broken computer.

I don’t know why. I didn’t get some funky message while I worked at lunch, but it didn’t seem urgent and the computer kept working fune as I wrote.

I think my laptop is jealous. I have this nice, new desktop with all kinds of cool things. I spend less time on the laptop at home than I did when we had a six-year-old computer that constantly gave me fits.

The laptop should understand that I needed to give the desktop attention at first to make sure it got acquanited with how I like to do things. You’ll always be my first really-fast computer.

He’s not budging. Just giving me that same screen.

Keep that Easter column. I like this one better.