|
|
My computer room was moved back to the baseme...
December 14, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 My computer room was moved back to the basement last week. It feels so much nicer down here. Much more space and I don't disturb Jamie's sleeping anymore. Often times I'll have a kid or two down here with me, but that tends to just add flavor to the mix.
My dad works away on the control panel, which is my next addition. That big hole in the wall is where I'll be putting my server monitor and the power switches for the server and my main computer. The actual boxes will be in my closet on the other side of the wall, with cables running through insulated holes to keep the sound down. My server in particular is extremely loud.
|
|
For the last couple weeks, my computer's been...
November 17, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
For the last couple weeks, my computer's been acting a little funny. After my computer was on for awhile, it would start display strange video artifacts, such as sparkles or weird geometry. Eventually it would lock up, frustrating me greatly. After fiddling with drivers and such, I finally opened up the case and saw to my surprise that the video card fan wasn't running. I broke out a case fan, screwed it into the heat sink, and it's been working just fine since then.
|
|
This is mostly to post a couple pictures of t...
October 26, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
This is mostly to post a couple pictures of the great basement remodel project. Here's one of what was once my closet. It now looks into the future rec room. There's going to be some pocket doors, which should either open it up or give some privacy:
Here's one of Josh wacking at the wall, proof that behind that brainy exterior lies the heart of a common thug:
|
|
I spent a fair amount of time mucking with co...
October 19, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I spent a fair amount of time mucking with computers yesterday. I bought a wireless access point, which is geared towards sharing an Internet connection between multiple computers. Because I have an internal DSL modem, though, I really needed it to act like a dumb hub. I finally got it working, with wireless encryption no less, but it took awhile. The problem is that once I get it configured the way I want, I can no longer talk to the modem (I have to turn off NAT and DHCP). So, I have to do a hard reset on the modem to return it to factory settings if I want to change anything. Frustrating, but it works.
The coolest part is that Jamie's computer is now free of network cables, able to roam about the house wherever she wants to plug it in.
Strangely, it also detected a nearby wireless access point, unencrypted. I neither have the time or inclination to hak into other's networks, but it was a bit freaky knowing that anyone could just plug into it. I could steal the neighbor's Internet access and no one would be the wiser.
|
|
It's been awhile since my last "new computer"...
October 01, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
It's been awhile since my last "new computer" update. I've got things completely installed at this point, though I have a couple annoying problems that seem to be following me still.
Neverwinter Nights doesn't play at all, simply crashing to the desktop. It's very annoying as that's probably what I spend most of my time doing these days.
I'm also seeing graphical glitches when starting up the computer, funny colored lines across the screen. It goes away after a few minutes, but is highly annoying. I think it's power related, so I bought a new power supply. Hopefully it'll arrive soon.
Other than that, it's quite speedy. Benchmarks and Jedi Academy play quite nicely on it. I might pick up Halo or the new Max Payne game and give my new computer a real workout.
|
|
I'm typing this from my new computer as it's ...
September 27, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I'm typing this from my new computer as it's busy installing software. Installing the operating system was a bit exciting, as I needed to have hard drive drivers installed. Unfortunately, you had to have a floppy drive to do it, so I had to mess around for over an hour getting it all arranged. There was a moment of terror when things started to crash and boot up with garbage on the screen. It turns out I had blocked the CPU fan with a cable and it overheated. Slowly getting there.
|
|
The last of the components arrived at my hous...
September 26, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
The last of the components arrived at my house yesterday. Somehow I managed to watch the kids and start putting components together. It's slow work, especially the elaborate heat sink for the CPU. It should do a great job, however, and really help out when I start overclocking.
Before I went to bed last night, I turned it on only to hear a series of loud beeps. It turns out I had forgotten to plug in the additional power supply for the video card and it was gently reminding me. After that was done, it booted up fine and detected all the drives.
Tonight I hope to actually install an operating system, as all it does is fire up. Then it'll take a while to patch up the OS and get all the software I want installed on it. I want to try some overclocking too and test it out with some serious gaming tests. Yippie!
|
|
It's done
September 19, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
It's done.
I just made the last of my orders, bringing together all the components of my new computer:
AMD 2500+ Barton (hopefully overclockable to 3200+)
Alpha PAL heatsink
DVD writer (Panasonic LF D521)
SEAGATE 160GB SATA hard drive
ASUS A7N8X DLX motherboard
Radeon 9800 Pro
2x Crucial 512 MB memory
AOpen case and power supply
The hope is that I'll be able to overclock the processor right away, as the particular stepping I purchased can supposedly make it into the 3200+ range without problems. It should be an easy overclock too, though these things are rarely certain.
I'm also meeting with my dad to start work on the infamous control panel. Should be fun.
|
|
Well, the computer parts are slowly coming in
September 17, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
Well, the computer parts are slowly coming in. The LCD panel arrived yesterday and the DVD burner the day before. I ordered the CoolerMaster Musketeer today (the weird control panel pictured below). It'll probably get disassembled along with the LCD in order to make the ultimate wall-mounted computer control panel. I'll probably have to buy my dad some extra chocolate and coffee so that I can coerce him to do my bidding. I think he has some fancy patterning that he's thinking of for the aluminum surface. Should be cool.
|
|
I've been looking around for cool things to a...
September 14, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 I've been looking around for cool things to add to my little control panel. I came across this thing called a CoolerMaster Musketeer, which has a fan control, temperature monitor, and sound levels. It's admittedly mostly for looks, and the style is essentially what I'm looking for (30's analog electronics). I'm hoping my LCD comes soon, then I can sit down with my dad and come up with options.
|
|
I'm slowly preparing the stage for a new computer
September 12, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I'm slowly preparing the stage for a new computer. It's been a couple years since my last one and I'm going to try some different things. One of the joys of being a home owner is that I can cut holes in walls and not really have to answer to anyone. The current plan is to put as much hardware in my closet as possible and string all the cables and such into the office.
I already purchased an LCD panel for the server, which I'm hoping my dad can turn into a piece of art. I'm thinking it would look nice embedded in the wall with a shiny aluminum engine-turned finish, complete with nifty buttons. I also want to make a "control panel" with a similar look, with 1930's controls for the various computers within the closet. Where possible, I'll be using wireless (for the keyboards and mice), though I'll have to string cables through the wall for the monitor and such.
I'm also making a fairly major change in video card vendors. It looks like I'll be going for an ATI card instead of my usual NVidia. The benchmarks for Half-life 2 are coming out and NVidia's latest offerings don't look so good.
I also ordered a DVD writer, with hopes of transferring my home movies to DVD. I think it's an easier to manage Christmas present that my past CD-based videos.
|
|
I'm slowly doing my part to prepare for the b...
September 02, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
I'm slowly doing my part to prepare for the big remodel coming up in a month or two. One of the changes will be that my closet will be annexed for the rec room. Because of this, I turned the sauna into a walk-in closet, putting up shelves and a bar to hang clothes from. It works quite well, though it isn't especially fancy.
The next thing I'd like to do is to move my computers in there, having just the necessary cables move back and forth between the wall. I'm hoping it cuts down on noise and clutter quite a bit.
|
|
I had Sam a couple weekends ago and we were t...
July 18, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 I had Sam a couple weekends ago and we were trying to figure out what to do. We ended up making a variety of clay creatures out of Sculpey, sticking a nail in them so they'd go into the ground, and baking them in the oven. The end result was a variety of goblins, worms, and snails to throw into our garden.
I like this guy the best myself.
I'm starting to seriously think about my next computer project. It's linked to our remodel and the fact that my closet is going away. My plan is to put the computers in the sauna, then cut holes in the wall to allow cables and such to go through. I'd like to create a custom panel for CD-Rom drives, switches, and the like. We'll see how it turns out.
|
|
It's been an amazingly long time since I wrot...
May 25, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 It's been an amazingly long time since I wrote anything on this area of the site. Taking care of a four-year-old and pregnant wife seems to take over most of my time. These days, my projects are done by other people, which feels a bit sad.
I have been doing a little gardening now that spring has arrived. There's nothing quite like digging in dirt and ripping out weeds. Our roses in particular have gone crazy, blooming all over the place. It makes the front area very fragrant.
Our next major house project is putting in a rec room in the basement. Having a big play area for Sam and Emma for the dreary winter months sounds like an excellent idea. Typically Sam and I play in the laundry area, which is basically a wide hallway. Having something a bit bigger sounds like a good plan.
|
|
Well, I got my new digital camera
January 03, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 Well, I got my new digital camera. So far, it seems pretty cool. 4 megapixels makes the images look much crisper when enlarged, though I've yet to try printing it out to see how that looks.
I'm still adjusting to the various buttons and dials. There's some high-end features that I haven't gotten around to yet. Supposedly you can take movies, record voiceover for clips, and so on. Here's a sample image that a coworker took to tide you over.
|
|
The other day Sadie asked me, "So, what house...
January 02, 2003 by Adam in Adam's Projects
The other day Sadie asked me, "So, what house projects are you wanting to do?" My mind went blank and I realized the utter lack of interest in starting any major things around the house. It would be nice to put up a railing for the upper part of the stairs, but I haven't really gotten the energy up for it.
The only pseudo-project that I've done recently is to purchase a new digital camera. Hopefully it'll help with Jamie's scrap books and possibly improvements in the photo album here. We'll see.
|
|
Older Posts
|
|