Chores

The weather has been absolutely dreadful here the last month or so. Each weekend it was raining, and now it gets dark about half an hour after we get home. So that doesn't leave much time for getting outdoor work done (that's my excuse, anyway), like the lawn mowing, avocado pasture prepping, and car washing I've been wanting to do for a long time. Well, I finally got one of those things done: I finally got the lawn mowed after fixing the mower. It was actually a good thing it was so cold, or else the grass would have been a foot tall instead of just the six inches that it was. But, now I don't have to worry about the HOA beating down the door with complaints about the grass. And something I found out while mowing: that rider sucks up the leaves a lot better than the push. I don't remember if it was last year or earlier that I discovered mowing the leaves is waaaaaay easier than raking, and now the rider makes it even easier! Yes, I fully acknowledge I'm a lazy slug.

So let's see. Other chores I wanted to get done this last weekend included cleaning all the fish. It took me two days, but finally got them squared away. I didn't expect them to take so long. And on the topic of fish: the pH meter I use to control CO2 delivery needs another probe. Haven't been able to find the right one yet online, but it's supposed to be a consumable so hopefully not very expensive.

Another thing I want to get done is get my PC up the Windows 7. I don't have a whole lot of programs to worry about not being compatible, except old versions of Paint Shop and all the Office products. I'm going to have to get the paint shop thing figured out, because I currently don't have any suitable program on my Mac. On my old Mac I have Photoshop, but I don't have anything that's compatible with 10.whateversnowleopardis! It makes me wonder why I bother upgrading.


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My weekend

Had a pretty good weekend, meaning lots of lazing.

Friday: stayed home and played Evony all day, then finally made some beer bread and dips for BBQ at 10 or 11 pm. Hubby rented some scaffolding to put a blown off piece of siding back up. (Been getting harassed by HOA for maybe 7 months to get that up.)

Saturday: played Evony and went to a BBQ for like 10 hours.

Sunday: played Evony, got surprise tickets to AAA baseball Ironbirds, so went to that. Hubby got the siding piece back up. Took all of 30 minutes with the scaffolding up. Played more Evony after baseball.

Monday: played Evony. Gave two cats baths, flea problem not as bad as I thought, as I only saw one flea. Mowed the lawn while avoiding rain (it decided not to downpour). Played Evony and did laundry.

Man I like 4 day weekends!

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Kaput

Desktop computer dead. Probably clogged with cat hair and dust.


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Huh

On the topic of webcams: I finally decided to see what would happen if I tried to access the camera with my Mac. The stream automatically goes to Java, so Mac can view something when they hit the camera page. [remember guest/guest]


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This'll have to do

So, apparently the webcam is visible to the outside world, even though I thought it wasn't. (that'll teach me to test with an iPhone: is it not connecting because I have so signal? or because it actually isn't going to work?)

Link: fishies!

This site is ActiveX, so go here if you don't have it and you're on a PC. Sorry, see title of post.

login/pwd: guest/guest

I still want to get this into a website, but so far haven't been able to get it to work.

Yeah, the tank is dirty. I think the camera is actually looking through a film of algae.


P.S. to add: Mac users will only be asked for a login, but they will not be able to see any video. It automatically comes up as Java for Macs, apparently. Also, ActiveX only works with Internet Explorer. Forgot to say that part.


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Aaaaaaahhhaaahhhaaa

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Is this what I think it is??

There is a crew down the street working on laying some line. They've been marking the streets (and in some cases marking the snow). Today we saw one of the trucks: "a Verizon contractor" is what it said. Now, the only line I know Verizon would be laying is FIOS, baby!! I really hope that's what it is. We've been trying to get FIOS since we learned of its existence. Please please let it be FIOS. Watch, it will be, but either it'll just suck, or it'll still take a year to activate everything.


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Look what fits inside the Shuttle!

My husband ordered his computer setup including the new video card for me. It's pretty much the same as what I had already got except the 256MB version. So this one now is an ATI Radeon x1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3, and is Vista ready, for what idiots are actually going to switch already. It's still the x16 PCI-E like the 512MB version. I'm kinda pissed because the only spec I really cared about was the memory. I wanted the 512 meg one. Foxit. (my new swear word, remember)

In other tech news I'm trying to convince my husband to take my RAZR (which I love, it's an awesome phone) so that I can buy a RIZR. Not yet available in the US, I don't think, but only around $250 for an unlocked one. (I got my RAZR from a site that I can't remember the name and can't find anywhere. It came from Germany, and was in German until it found the Cingular signal.) The RIZR takes a microSD card for a couple gigs of songs. It capture video and the same 2MP camera that seems to have not evolved woth the rest of the technology. It's a purdy phone and I want one. Click for full post and comments

But it looks good, at least

I just got the computer I ordered last week from MWave: Shuttle xPC with the 945 chipset motherboard. I ordered a screaming Radeon x1950 video card to go with it. I guess it's too good of a card because the blasted thing doesn't fit! The fan on the side of the card takes up a second slot, and it also hits the bar that runs along the top of the case. The board itself isn't too big, it's the fan! The card is a PCI-E, and I thought both slots on the board were the same, and you could just put the card into whichever fits better. Wrong! On this motherboard it's only the outermost slot that's PCI-E, which is right up against the side of the case. So I guess I just bought my husband a late birthday present, except we need to get 1) a new (bigger) computer to take the card, and 2) a video card still for me. Foxit! (my new swear word)

But the onboard videocard thingy works pretty good. It's allows the native resolution for my 22" monitor (Westinghouse), which it 1680 x 1050. I was surprised it could do that. Oh! and this thing is so quite without the videocard fan!

So this sweet little machine is black, of course, and my monitor is black and silver, so I had to get a matching keyboard and mouse. I found a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse set for pretty cheap at Best Buy. It looks purdy.

In other news, the lizard was digging in her tunnel today, but I couldn't get a picture. Click for full post and comments