http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qbLpqmh9Bk
Reminded me of Flavors. Good watch.
Data Spill On Cylinder 3, Block 256
Unbelievable that I've got well over 16 Gigabytes in temporary files!
Laptop Repair
My computer had an overheating problem, so I opened it up. And saw what can get inside over the course of 4+ years.
 | ||
| This thing was very difficult to put back together once I'd opened it up. For some reason, I ended up using less screws to put things back together. Being economical with screws or the realization of my limits on putting-stuff-back-together? |
 |
| That white stuff doesn't look like something they soldered on to boost shader performance. |
 |
| The black plastic sheet is "insulation material" according to the service manual. I'm not sure if what appears to be bacterial growth sprouting beneath it is supposed to be doing. |
 |
| Some more insulation material. |
At the end of it all, I managed to clean out quite a few dust balls from the CPU fan itself. On putting it back together (and saving quite a few screws in the process) I found that the CPU fan no longer spins. So it runs for a couple of minutes before overheating and switching off.
So lesson learned: when you have a lot of screws left over, something is wrong.
Also, the guys over at your local computer shop work hard to put all the screws back in. They deserve the credit, it's not easy to keep track of all those screws.
First Opinion: ACT Broadband
It's been quite a while since I've been wanting this.
I've broken free of the FUP-ping shackles that Airtel has chained me to.
I've now got a new broadband connection from ACT TV. The speeds are good (anywhere between rock bottom 256 kbps up to 10 mbps), the prices are reasonable (Rs. 500 to 2000 per month), and the plan doesn't leave you with the feeling of having test-driven a Ferrari F50 only halfway through the test drive the sales rep tells you that the fuel tank carries only 1 liter of petrol enough to go about 5 kilometers before choking to a stop (data limits offer enough high speed transfer).
I'm talking about you Airtel. If any of you haven't seen what a joke the so called new plans from Airtel are, please check it out, I'm sure if you haven't had a laugh in a long time, you surely will. (Long story short: the new plans offer 8 megabit pipes with up to 150 GB of high-speed data transfer and a drop to 256 kbps for the greedy ones who cross that sacred limit - and that's data going both into and out of your network. The price per month is close to 2600 including taxes - 2399 excl. Now do you see where the Ferrari ki sawari came in? Okay, good.)
The Equipment
There's quite a lot of cable involved. There's a optical cable from the neighbourhood node to the rack box in the house. The rack (that's what they called it) is a modem-like equipment installed in a metal box (mounted on the wall) outside the house. This is what converts the optical signal to a digital one and vice versa. An ethernet cable sneaks out from here all the way around to the other end of the house where my router is placed. There's quite a lot of cable snaking its way around the house now.
The Features
Streaming videos coming through like streaming videos should, with minimal to no buffer time and no pausing in the middle. This is the stuff that streaming dreaming is made of.
I like their service so much, I'm actually thinking of upgrading to a 10 mbps package from them.
And the best part:
UPLOADS don't count against your quota! This means you could backup everything on your hard drive without worrying about going over limit.
I'm not sure when all this is going to change. Hope I'm not dreaming.
I changed my tariff package to ACT BB DOUBLE PREMIUM (10 mbps upto 75 GB download and 2 mbps thereafter) package two weeks back.
Nowhere near the symmetrical 10 mbps upload... but as they promise in their ads which show up right next to the speedtest result, I see zero buffering for most videos. YouTube especially is awesome... 1080p comes in just like that. Mind-blowing!
The only downside I've seen is that transfers between us and Apple's servers seem to be sluggish. Not sure why Akamai isn't able to deliver as I expected it should.
Depending on where you are... you can get much-lower-than-expected speeds:
I'm still happy. I've not even managed to use up half the expected FUP quota, I'm still on high speed after 3 weeks and I'm watching full-length movies just like that.
I'm happy. There have been minor service outages though. Not sure whether it was because of my router. I switched from my old linksys that's been serving us for 5 years and switched to the Belkin model I'd bought as a backup.
An interesting thing to note is, I had to change the setting on the router to authenticate via PPoE to Dynamic IP with all the connection details obtained from the network via DHCP. No userid/password required in case you change routers. Select dynamic connection and things should work fine.
I've broken free of the FUP-ping shackles that Airtel has chained me to.
I've now got a new broadband connection from ACT TV. The speeds are good (anywhere between rock bottom 256 kbps up to 10 mbps), the prices are reasonable (Rs. 500 to 2000 per month), and the plan doesn't leave you with the feeling of having test-driven a Ferrari F50 only halfway through the test drive the sales rep tells you that the fuel tank carries only 1 liter of petrol enough to go about 5 kilometers before choking to a stop (data limits offer enough high speed transfer).
I'm talking about you Airtel. If any of you haven't seen what a joke the so called new plans from Airtel are, please check it out, I'm sure if you haven't had a laugh in a long time, you surely will. (Long story short: the new plans offer 8 megabit pipes with up to 150 GB of high-speed data transfer and a drop to 256 kbps for the greedy ones who cross that sacred limit - and that's data going both into and out of your network. The price per month is close to 2600 including taxes - 2399 excl. Now do you see where the Ferrari ki sawari came in? Okay, good.)
The Equipment
There's quite a lot of cable involved. There's a optical cable from the neighbourhood node to the rack box in the house. The rack (that's what they called it) is a modem-like equipment installed in a metal box (mounted on the wall) outside the house. This is what converts the optical signal to a digital one and vice versa. An ethernet cable sneaks out from here all the way around to the other end of the house where my router is placed. There's quite a lot of cable snaking its way around the house now.
The Features
Streaming videos coming through like streaming videos should, with minimal to no buffer time and no pausing in the middle. This is the stuff that streaming dreaming is made of.
 |
| This is the stuff that streams are made of - that is playing at 720p with about 3 stutters, that's probably because this is only 2 mbps. |
 |
| Not bad for a 2 mbps plan from a non-name provider... Of course, depending on which server you try to test your connection with, your mileage may vary. |
I like their service so much, I'm actually thinking of upgrading to a 10 mbps package from them.
And the best part:
UPLOADS don't count against your quota! This means you could backup everything on your hard drive without worrying about going over limit.
I'm not sure when all this is going to change. Hope I'm not dreaming.
I changed my tariff package to ACT BB DOUBLE PREMIUM (10 mbps upto 75 GB download and 2 mbps thereafter) package two weeks back.
Nowhere near the symmetrical 10 mbps upload... but as they promise in their ads which show up right next to the speedtest result, I see zero buffering for most videos. YouTube especially is awesome... 1080p comes in just like that. Mind-blowing!
The only downside I've seen is that transfers between us and Apple's servers seem to be sluggish. Not sure why Akamai isn't able to deliver as I expected it should.
Depending on where you are... you can get much-lower-than-expected speeds:
I'm happy. There have been minor service outages though. Not sure whether it was because of my router. I switched from my old linksys that's been serving us for 5 years and switched to the Belkin model I'd bought as a backup.
An interesting thing to note is, I had to change the setting on the router to authenticate via PPoE to Dynamic IP with all the connection details obtained from the network via DHCP. No userid/password required in case you change routers. Select dynamic connection and things should work fine.
It's wonderful how
a medley of naturally discordant and non-harmonious sounds can come together to form something so mind-blowing that it's forms the perfect help-me-get-through-the-last-21-kilometers-of-a-full-marathon song.
First featured here:
Somehow it's perfect for the commercial...
Okay Today I Make A Boo Boo
So I was a little hungover from lunch,
Stuffed with desserts and overflowing
With bits and pieces of creatures,
I had not the pleasure of knowing. (except in a gastronomic sense)
Evil angels did their work,
Small thoughts of bigness sowing,
Foolish mistakes to be made did lurk,
As my ego set to work.
Mis-communication followed
The relationship was hollowed
Strange feelings of mixups and regrets I will probably have on the morrow,
"Why did I not speak my mind?"
Only quiet quiet sorrow.
Stuffed with desserts and overflowing
With bits and pieces of creatures,
I had not the pleasure of knowing. (except in a gastronomic sense)
Evil angels did their work,
Small thoughts of bigness sowing,
Foolish mistakes to be made did lurk,
As my ego set to work.
Mis-communication followed
The relationship was hollowed
Strange feelings of mixups and regrets I will probably have on the morrow,
"Why did I not speak my mind?"
Only quiet quiet sorrow.
I'm Seeing Life Differently
I bought a copy of the movie version of Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy over a year-and-a-half back. I saw it last night.
Bathroom Cleaning
I just cleaned my bathroom
I wish it got cleaner with every bath I took.
Now I'm dirty.
Time for a bath.
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