Finally have my machine working to spec - tweaking the BIOS to force the memory to run at the same speed as the CPU rather than insanely fast seems to have done the trick. After making that change I could put my RAM in without the annoyingly cheerful audio warning and subsequent failure to boot. Hurrah. Re-installation of extraneous crud has continued apace, and the bootup time is back up to it's normal value rather than the blink-and-you'll-miss-it times on a bare XP install. On the plus side, I've discovered the Hibernate function - this saves the systems state to disc, bringing back the ultra-fast boot time with the added bonus that all your apps are exactly where you left them when you shut down. Ran some benchmarks and am suitably pleased with the speed increases - go go Google Compute.
Something of a night on the town tonight. It started as drinks and dinner at All Bar One to "celebrate" the departure of a couple of staff members, which was all well and good. After that, I allowed myself to be persuaded to go clubbing, so after eight years in Oxford I finally experienced the Park End Club. Oh yes...
Oops. I've been rather pathetic at updating my Sabrina Online mirror for the last few months (I hadn't even read November's strips myself), but the site is now up to date with this month's strips and this years Christmas bonus. I hope to do some updates to the art archives over the next few days.
PC tribulations continue: Took my memory into the office to test it on a machine there. It worked. Borrowed some PC2100 RAM from work to test on my machine at home. That also worked. To conclude:
My motherboard works
My PC3200 DIMMs work
The exact memory I have is certified to work with the exact motherboard I have by the latter's manufacturer
My RAM doesn't work with my motherboard
Hopefully work won't want this memory back until I've figured out who to complain to...
Invariants Xmas party tonight - usual quiz fun, I did particlularly well on the Bond Themes round, came second overall (out of 3 - 1 team knew a disturbing amount about Steps' song titles). Also got to play some ( Collapse ).
The Good: New PC components arrived today as promised. The Bad: I put it all together and it completely fails to boot, just sits there complaining that both of my swanky pre-tested DIMMs are defective. Unfortunately, I have nothing else to test with. The Ugly: The motherboard manufacturer's web sit is down at the moment, so I can't even go there to look stuff up. To add to the fun, I have no food and a large pile of dirty washing up.
This posting was brought to you by the power of Playstation 2 Linux.
I was invited to St. Hilda's for an allegedly Bond-themed dinner this evening (the theming consisting of a Black-Tie dress code, a feeble attempt at a casino in the MCR after dinner, and a few Bond themes played right at the very end. Oh, and the post-port vodka-martinis (presumably shaken, not stirred) - not a drink I have any particular inclination to try again) Parenthesised comments notwithstanding, I had a really good time. The food was pretty good and there was some confusion over the ByoB status, so we weren't short of drink ;-) As for company, I had my two Bond Girls (the young lady who invited me and her other guest) plus some other interesting people we chatted with over dinner. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Spent some time this evening practising the golf mini-game in Super Monkey Ball on the old Gamecube. Largely due to playing at the weekend and ending up with only third place on my own score board (1st place being held by jiggery_pokery after his last visit). Now feeling much better with the top 4 spots and a score of 7 under par, and I reckon that 18 under par is achievable with a bit more practice.
Also finished watching through the appendices to the 4-disc Lord of the Rings DVD set. 6 hours of documentaries, and never a dull moment - everything you ever wanted to know about filmmaking, plus a host of anecdotes. Special mentions to the miniatures that are anything but, and the fascinating digital colour grading - changing, sometimes subtly and sometimes dramatically, the colour balance and lighting not just of the whole frame, but often parts thereof, complete with before-and-after shots to show what an impact it has on the look of the film. Cool.
I've had guests (well, one Guest and a Keefe, actually) for the last few days, so haven't had chance to post, so here's a jumbo size entry with extra fries. Possible Bond spoilers below, yadda yadda yadda.
It was Grandpa's funeral today. Mum and Dad were staying with me for a couple of nights so I went down to Hastings with them, meeting at Grandpa's house for a light lunch with Louie (his widow) and some other family who'd come down the night before. The service was in the rather beautiful chapel of the nearby hospice where Louie has been doing volunteer work for many years, and Grandpa was also a helper before his health began to fail. The hospice chaplain led a very touching service - I blinked back an awful lot of tears. I'm not a religious person, but I can't deny that her Braille Bible and prayer book found the right words for the occasion, and you don't need to Believe to appreciate the sentiment of the Hymns we sung. We, his children and grandchildren, then followed across town to the crematorium for another brief service and our final farewells. Back at the house I had a chance to catch up with the family, and meet a few relatives from the eldest generation who I probably haven't seen in over eighteen years. Between them and the service I was gently reminded of past times and learned some new things, all of which helped me get past the loss and slight nagging guilt I was feeling last week. Soon, it was time to leave - my sister was heading back to Bristol, so I was able to get a lift as far as Reading where we had supper before heading our separate ways home.
