Category: random

New Computer!

Hopefully I can start playing all those games that have been sitting on Steam waiting for me to have a computer with enough “umph” to handle them!

Dude! You're getting a Dell!
Dude! You’re getting a Dell!

I had a number of friends who told me that I should build my own computer. And maybe I should have, I’ve done it twice in the past. But, I didn’t feel like I had the time or the energy to do the necessary research for parts and then to assemble them all. So, I went with Alienware (Dell)

The whole she-bang
The whole she-bang

I went with a desktop model so that I can, potentially, upgrade the video card, CPU, RAM, and HD if I ever want to. Below are the specs, if you’re into that kind of thing…

Processor(s)

  • Processor
    • CPU_Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00GHz
    • CPU_Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
    • CPU_Caption: Intel64 Family 6 Model 60 Stepping 3
    • CPU_Version:
    • CPU_ProcessorId: BFEBFBFF000306C3
    • CPU_CurrentClockSpeed: 780MHz
    • CPU_AddressWidth: 64Bits
    • CPU_DataWidth: 64Bits


System Memory

  • 8 gigabits


BIOS Information

  • BIOS_Manufacturer: Alienware
  • BIOS_Name: BIOS Date: 03/19/13 11:59:38 Ver: 04.06.05
  • BIOS_Version1: A00
  • BIOS_Version2: ALWARE – 1072009


Motherboard Information

  • MB_Manufacturer: Alienware
  • MB_Product: 0PGRP5
  • MB_SerialNumber: .1SGB7Y1.CN6970234J0960.
  • MB_Version: A00


Video Adapter

  • Video_Caption: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
  • Video_AdapterRAM: -1984MB
  • Video_DriverVersion: 9.18.10.3055


Hard Drive(s)

  • ATA ST1000DM003-1CH1 SCSI Disk Device
    • Disk_Model: ATA ST1000DM003-1CH1 SCSI Disk Device
    • Disk_Size: 1000 GB
    • Disk_Partitions: 4
    • Disk_TotalHeads: 255
    • Disk_TotalCylinders: 121601
    • Disk_TotalTracks: 31008255
    • Disk_TracksPerCylinder: 255


Optical Drives / Other Storage

  • PLDS DVD+-RW DL-8A4SH SCSI CdRom Device


OperatingSystem: MS Windows 7 Home Premium Edition

DirectXVersion: DirectX 11

IRQ Configuration

  • 0 System timer
  • 1 -empty-
  • 2 -empty-
  • 3 Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series SMBus Controller – 8C22
  • 4 -empty-
  • 5 -empty-
  • 6 -empty-
  • 7 -empty-
  • 8 System CMOS/real time clock
  • 9 -empty-
  • 10 -empty-
  • 11 -empty-
  • 12 -empty-
  • 13 Numeric data processor
  • 14 -empty-
  • 15 -empty-
  • 16 Dell Wireless 1506 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz)
  • 16 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 645
  • 16 Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 – 8C2D
  • 17 High Definition Audio Controller
  • 19 Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series PCI Express Root Port #4 – 8C16
  • 22 High Definition Audio Controller
  • 23 Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 – 8C26
  • 190 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System

Installed Devices Drivers

  • NVIDIA High Definition Audio, 7-3-2012, 1.3.18.0
  • Generic volume shadow copy, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • PLDS DVD+-RW DL-8A4SH SCSI CdRom Device, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7601.17514
  • Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600, 3-6-2013, 9.18.10.3055
  • Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Generic volume shadow copy, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Realtek High Definition Audio, 2-19-2013, 6.0.1.6844
  • ATA ST1000DM003-1CH1 SCSI Disk Device, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Generic volume shadow copy, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Intel(R) Display Audio, 1-11-2013, 6.16.0.3106
  • Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00GHz, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Generic volume shadow copy, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Generic volume shadow copy, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00GHz, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Generic volume shadow copy, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Intel(R) Desktop/Workstation/Server Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller, 1-22-2013, 12.0.0.1082
  • Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00GHz, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 645, 1-18-2013, 9.18.13.1106
  • Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller, 12-26-2012, 7.67.1226.2012
  • Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00GHz, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385
  • Dell Wireless 1506 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz), 11-30-2012, 9.2.0.514
  • Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter, 6-21-2006, 6.1.7600.16385

The Myth of Persecution, 2013 Summer Giveaway

This was a wildly exaggerated incident

Congratulations to our third winner, Felix, he’ll have his choice of book from the list below:

  • Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (signed)
  • Selected Poems of Robert Frost
  • Amphigorey Too by Edward Gorey
  • Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
  • Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
  • Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
  • The Myth of Persecution by Candida Moss
  • Overheated by Andrew Guzman
  • Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

The giveaway marches on! Leave a comment below and you’ll be entered to win a book of your choice from the list. Below is another short review for one of the books in the giveaway, The Myth of Persecution. This review originally appeared in the San Francisco and Sacramento Book Review.

Candida Moss’ new book, The Myth of Persecution is going to raise hackles in the small, exclusive halls of Christian history. Why? Because it attacks one of the foundational tenets of early Christianity: the persecution and martyrdom of early converts to the new religion.  Ask any Christian, Protestant, Catholic, and other and the conversation will eventually turn to the persecution of Christians, contemporary and historical, almost always accompanied by a shout out to Nero, and sometimes Diocletian.  This piece of historical trivia is always presented as a given and no one ever disputes the “fact” that before the ascension of Constantine to the Imperial crown Christians were singularly and systematically persecuted by Pagan Rome. Dr. Moss begs to differ. In this exhaustively researched yet accessible book Dr. Moss presents the thesis that this ‘persecution’ of the primitive church is a myth created by later government sanctioned, early Christian sects and used as method to impose orthodoxy, attack sectarian opponents, and bolster their own doctrinal claims. The popularity of martyr stories among the laity only fed the use of the myth and their exaggeration into the grotesque stories we have today, Dr. Moss’ book lays bare that truth and presents us with the opportunity to instead of retelling myth begin to explore the actual history of this era.

Theme Update

I went back to an older less complex theme. I couldn’t figure out how to change anything on the other. I did like the design and layout but the fact that it was all completely opaque to me was a turn off.

This theme is a littler easier to play around with even if it does lack some of the bells and whistles.

Oh, it also has images from a video game about farming which sums up this site pretty well I think.

Nice to see Google is still Active in the 24th Century

Google Glasses seem to be a lot bulkier than they are now though...
Google Glasses seem to be a lot bulkier than they are now though…

Turns out being 300 years in the future doesn’t make you look any less stupid wearing them… Sorry Dr. Crusher.

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