Michael Collins 6:20 pm on 26/07/2013
Tags: boxes, computer, fan, galaxy note ( 2 ), graphics card ( 3 ), gumtree, hero ( 4 ), hot, htc ( 5 ), ireland ( 8 ), mobile ( 4 ), moving ( 3 ), nexus ( 5 ), phone ( 9 ), simpsons, summer, sun, tapped out, uk ( 2 ), upgrade ( 2 )

Hot and Fast

Hello again comrades.

As anyone in the UK (and in the USA so i hear) will know, it has been hot a lot recently. I know it’s summer, but here in the UK, we don’t usually get sun in summer. But this year, mother nature has made up for all the cold or mild summers we’ve had and has given us sun. Lots of sun. Seriously, we’ve had it for weeks now. My fan has been pretty much constantly on the whole time, even when i’m out. Problem is, i kind of prefer it to be cold. It’s a lot easier to warm yourself up when it’s cold, than it is to cool yourself down when it’s warm. I’ve actually started drinking water instead of juice. And that’s unusual for me.

Anyway, i can’t remember what i previously blogged, but i had an alright graphics card in my now complete computer, but i wanted to upgrade it. So i did, i got a pretty decent graphics card for a pretty low price. Let me see what it was… It was a PowerColor Radeon AX4870. It looks like this:

My PowerColor Radeon AX4870 Graphics Card

Isn’t it beautiful? It takes two PCI-E power cables, i only had one so i had to order a molex to PCI-E converter off eBay. No big deal, didn’t cost much. But anyway, it’s a pretty powerful beast. It can handle my games on almost the highest settings. Beautiful. My computer is how i want it now. Damn, i should have took a screenshot of my Windows performance rating. I might add it in later.

Edit: I screenshot my Windows performance thing. Here you go:

My Windows Performance Index

As you can see, the main thing restricting the base score is my slow ass hard drive. I should have installed Winblows to my SSD instead, then it’d be a hell of a lot higher. I’ve installed Ubuntu to the SSD and from the bootloader (where you select which OS to boot) and the login prompt, it takes less than 10 seconds. Pretty speedy, eh?

I’ve also been dong some Let’s Play videos on YouTube. Mostly different games every time but I’ll continue some. For those that don’t know, my YouTube is here

Also, plans are in motion for moving to Ireland. I’ve got a rough estimate how much it’ll cost, i just need to pack the stuff I’m taking, and for that i need boxes. It’s going to be hard to find a box to fit my 32 inch TV. I don’t have the one it came in anymore. But everything else should fit in boxes. Even my desktop should fit in one.

I’ve been thinking about selling my Galaxy Note and Nexus S. I do love both phones but the Note is too big and the Nexus is too slow. If i sell both phones i could get a Nexus 4, which I’ve been wanting for a while. I’ve been selling some old computer parts on Gumtree (unsuccessfully mostly), and my old HTC Hero. The little cute thing. I’ve actually been thinking of switch to my Nexus S for a while, just because it’s better sized and it’s more beautiful than my Note. I still might.

If you want to see my ads on Gumtree, click here. It’ll open in a new tab.

Oh yeah, I’ve been playing The Simpsons: Tapped out on my Asus tablet, so if you have it, add micol25.

That’s all for now I think. I’m going to watch Silent Running on Film4, then get some food. Toodles

Michael Collins 1:03 pm on 07/04/2013
Tags: cd key, computer, government, graphics card ( 3 ), job ( 3 ), jobcentre ( 4 ), star trek ( 3 ), unemployed ( 4 ), windows ( 5 )

Still Unemployed

Yeah, it’s been about 2 months since i did my last blog. I still don’t have a new job and i lose this job in less than 2 weeks. And yes, i have been looking. I’ve applied to several places. Especially technology related places, like CarphoneWarehouse and Comet and stuff like that. So far no-one has accepted me. One company wanted me to go to an interview, but after a bit of research i discovered it’s a scam company. Don’t ever work for Skyline Marketing Ltd.

On the 26th April, i do get some redundancy and lieu of notice pay. This should come to about £2000 (on top of my £600 or so normal pay), but i want to save as much of it as i can. Looks like i’ll have to start going to the crappy jobcentre. From what one of my Facebook friends say though, they’re a load of crap. Which i believe. Let’s face it, they are owned by the government. And we all know what governments are like.

I’m typing this blog up at work. I probably shouldn’t be. If Omar knew (the IT man), he wouldn’t be happy. I don’t even know if he still works here though. We’re allowed to look for jobs though, obviously. Although some sites are blocked, including a few i’ve needed, like when i tried to look for jobs at Codemasters or Aston University. I understand gaming being blocked but education is also blocked. Why would they block education? “We don’t want you learning things, do we”. Stupid.

On another subject, the computer i’ve been building has a slight problem. I’ve installed that Windows on too many computers, and now they’ve blocked me from using that CD key thing. Now i need a new one, or i’ll keep getting an error message, it’ll say the Windows version number in the bottom right corner, and it’ll blank the background. The error more than anything is annoying, but i suppose i’ll have to tolerate it. If anyone has a spare Windows 7 Home Premium CD key, feel free to let me know

First world problems, eh? Other than that, it runs good except the mid range graphics card and the slow main hard drive. But i do want a better graphics card. It can’t even run Star Trek Online at maximum graphics settings properly. It’s got some nice effects but nothing that should be too hard on the graphics card. Ah well, i’ll get a better one soon enough.

That’s all for today. Just wanted top update you all on the situation. If you care. Probably not. I’m surprised i get as many views as i do. I’m at exactly 7400 views right now. Not bad. Anyway, toodle pips old chap

Michael Collins 7:39 am on 04/02/2013
Tags: computer, dvd, dvi, early ( 3 ), headache, hearing aid, ide, money ( 8 ), ram ( 4 ), shifts, sleep ( 2 ), tired, vga, windows ( 5 ), work ( 12 )

Deja Vu

So it’s that time of the rota again where I have to do early shifts. There was a point where I asked one of my supervisors to change as many as my shifts to lates, which she did for a few months, but then she got injured and was unable to do them for a while.

So now I have to be up at 5.30 for work most days this week. And we all know how hard it is for me to get to sleep at night. I worry about things. Money, Tracey having fibromyalgia and not getting enough sleep and being in pain, ironically knowing I have to be up early keeps me awake. Stupid body. I had a splitting headache last night as well so I had to pop a couple of pills, which slowly worked. And things aren’t helped by my dad’s constantly beeping hearing aid. By constant I mean constant. Not beep beep beep. I mean beeeeeeeeeeeeeep. All night.

So now it’s 7.20am at the time of writing. And even though I only got about 4 hours or so of sleep, I’m not feeling as tired as you might think. I’m actually quite awake. And no, I haven’t had any caffeinated drinks. Except Dr pepper, but I was feeling awake before I started drinking that.

On another note, I’ve more or less finished building my computer. I’ve got it working. I just want to put more RAM in it. But I’ve got windows installed on it, I’ve got the blu-ray drive working, a DVD rewriter, the old IDE hard drive and two solid state drives. There’s a CD rewriter that doesn’t work because there’s no more IDE connectors, but I can live with that. But other than that everything works. I just want a DVI to VGA cable to connect my small monitor for when I’m using the PS3. And oh yeah, my windows product key has stopped working so I only have a couple of days to activate it before… Something happens

Anyway, back to the grind. Adios amigos

Michael Collins 8:12 pm on 04/09/2012
Tags: building ( 2 ), card, chinese, cinema, computer, ebay ( 4 ), girls, graphics, hdmi, memory, power ( 2 ), ram ( 4 ), spider, supply ( 2 ), ted, tracey ( 12 ), vacuum

Stuff and Stuff

Hello friends. While i wait for Tracey to get back from watching Ted at the cinema, I thought I’d make another blog.

I’m ordering food from a Chinese not far from here. Not my usual, because that’s closed. Shame. It’s a good place. Got some cute girls that work there. Shame the girls don’t deliver.

Anyways, that’s all very fascinating, but one thing i wanted to do was a small computer building update. My graphics card arrived. I was under the impression that it had a HDMI port, but it doesn’t. More my fault than anyone else’s. Anyway i ordered the wrong lead because of it, but i’ve also ordered the right one, so never mind. Oh and i really need a more powerful power supply. Mine is 200W and i want at LEAST a 500W. And some more memory, but i’ll probably do that when i get paid again.

Now, what else is there? Oh, still on the subject of computers, i saw a cheap but high performance computer on eBay, better and cheaper than mine. If i knew about that i would have got it instead of building one. You’d think I’d be an expert eBay shopper buy now.

Oh yeah, last night just before i was going to bed, there was a GINORMOUS spider on the floor. Seriously, it was huge. So i went to vacuum it up, but the pipe was blocked and the spider kept crawling back out. So i squashed it. Job done.

Anyway Chinese is here and i always make a mess, so I’m outta here. Toodle pip

Michael Collins 12:40 pm on 17/08/2012
Tags: 4400, 5000, battlefield 3 ( 2 ), blog ( 6 ), blogger ( 2 ), computer, cpu, ebay ( 4 ), girlfriend ( 8 ), graphics card ( 3 ), knight rider, netflix, posts ( 3 ), power ( 2 ), processor ( 2 ), ram ( 4 ), smallville, supply ( 2 ), topless girls, views ( 7 )

Computer Building Update

Hello my pretties. I thought i would update you with how my computer building is going.

Not so long ago i bought a CPU fan and thermal paste from good old eBay. Oh eBay, what would i do without you? Then a couple of weeks ago i got a processor. Now, the processors i want are generally around £300 for a 3ghz quad core. I managed to get one off Amazon for… an amazing £150. Yep. Half the normal price. I was surprised to find it. so i’ve fitted everything in.

There’s just a couple more parts i want. A better power supply and a graphics card, the ATI Radeon HD 6850, since it has excellent performance for its price. I won’t be getting it this month since i literally have -£1 in my bank, so i’ll get it next month.

I can probably get by with the power supply it has, but i really need the graphics card soon to get it at least functioning. I also want a few more 2gb RAM sticks.

On another note, I’ve been watching a lot of things on Netflix recently. Especially Knight Rider. I hope they bring Airwolf back as well, i used to love that. And my amazing girlfriend Tracey showed me a show called the 4400, so i started watching that as well. It’s freaking awesome. It’s like a mix between Smallville and the X-files (even with new Mulder and Scully types).

And finally, I have now hit over 5000 views on my blog. Good work peeps. Get recommending it to people you know. Share it and stuff. And go read my girlfriend’s blog as well here.

One thing i’ve just noticed is that my previous blog is in the top 5 viewed posts. That’s weird. What did i put in that to make it so popular in such a short amount of time? Maybe i should start putting topless girls in here to make it even more popular.

My stats. 5000 views and latest post becoming popular

54 views in less than 2 weeks. That’s pretty damn impressive, even if i do say so myself. Maybe someone is interested in what i do. Maybe someone is interested in building a computer as well. Maybe my old best friend is showing all her family and friends my post, badmouthing me. That’s what she does. Gets everyone involved.

Anyway, enough about her. I’m off to play some more Battlefield 3. Toodle pip, old chap!

Michael Collins 2:02 pm on 04/07/2012
Tags: account, ads, adsense ( 2 ), anniversary, bank ( 2 ), computer, crazy ( 2 ), dublin ( 4 ), friend, girlfriend ( 8 ), google ( 7 ), psycho

Long Time No See, Stuff that’s Happened to Me

Yoooo. Yeah, so it’s been quite a while since i did a blog, so here i am, doing another one, just for that reason. I don’t have a lot to say, which is why i haven’t done a blog in ages.

So what’s happened? Not a lot really. Although one thing you may be interested in is i managed to finally get rid of one of my psycho friend. She really was crazy, and she had no idea about it. My girlfriend did a very good, detailed blog about it, which can be read here. (It’ll open in a new tab). It caused a right shit storm with my ex friend and her friends and family. She shouldn’t have brought them into it. But she’s evil and doesn’t realize it

What else? Oh, well you know how i have Google AdSense? Well they finally decided to give me some monies. I just verified my bank account. Pretty soon i’ll have an extra… £6.00. I know, i’ll be rolling in it on no time.

My Earnings Report

To be honest, i couldn’t have received so much money without you. The reader, looking at the ads i put on my sites. (or more likely, ignoring them, or even blocking them). So yeah. Thanks for reading.

On another note, I have booked a flight to Dublin (or as i call it, Dubbers) to see my perfect girlfriend, Tracey. I’m about to print off the tickets (as soon as i go downstairs to use the printer). It’ll be our one year anniversary a couple of days after i get there. we’ll be going to the cinema to make out in the back row ;D

Also, if you’re wondering how my computer building is going, it’s going slow. Although i have a motherboard, a 2GB RAM stick (although I want to quadruple that), a processor fan and heatsink, two 90GB SATA II solid state drives and a 120GB IDE hard drive (the one that came with it). I still want to get an ATI Radeon HD 6850 graphics card, an Intel Core 2 Quad or Core 2 Extreme processor, a WI-FI card, and a 700W or so power supply. So still a long way to go. The processor will be the most expensive one to get.

Anyways, i think that’s all i have to say for now. It was more than i expected. If you haven’t read my previous posts, go read em now. click some ads. It gives me money. So go read em.

GOOOOOOO!

Michael Collins 10:12 pm on 26/05/2012
Tags: agp, asus ( 3 ), ATX, building ( 2 ), computer, core, ebay ( 4 ), gaming, hard drive, motherboard, nvidia, PC, pci-express, processor ( 2 ), quad, ram ( 4 ), sata, solid state

Computer Building

Warning: Geek talk is contained in this blog

As you probably guessed by the title of the post, I have started building my own computer. I want to get more into PC gaming and video editing (remember the green screen I bought?)

So it started on Facebook when I saw someone selling a computer for £10. I wanted it, thinking I could take out the motherboard and maybe use some of the parts and replace anything I don’t want. Someone else wanted it as well, but I said I’d give them £20 if they delivered it. And they did.

So I got a huge ATX form computer. First thing I did was open it up and see what was in it. Pretty basic stuff. 512mb of ram, 128mb graphics card, and a fairly decent 2.8ghz single core processor, which was better than I expected, and as fast as you can get on that mobo.

It only has an AGP slot though, I want a PCI-Express slot naturally, for a shiny graphics card. It has plenty of PCI slots. It did have a wifi card though, so I yoinked that for my new motherboard. Although it doesn’t have an antenna. Hopefully it’ll still work without it since the wireless router is just a couple of feet away.

So here’s what I want the specs to be:

At least 2.8ghz dual core, preferably quad
At least 8gb of ram
Nvidia graphics card with at least 1gb of graphics memory
About a 32gb solid state hard drive to install windows and ubuntu on, for quick start up times
At least 500gb, maybe 750gb 7200rpm SATA hard drive (it came with a 250gb IDE drive)

I bought a new motherboard, an Asus something, it fit in beautifully. I should have researched memory more though, and got one with DDR3 , the one I got is DDR2. Apparently DDR3 is cheaper and faster. Just how I like my women. Anyway I’m stuck with DDR2. It can take quad core processors though, which is what I want. So I’ve been looking for some good (but fairly cheap) memory and processors. I keep getting outbidded on ebay though. I’ll let ya know how it goes. Might add a picture of it later. The chassis isn’t too impressive to be honest, but i’m going to turn it into a beast

Michael Collins 12:18 am on 07/05/2012
Tags: android ( 8 ), apk, app ( 3 ), appsgeyser ( 2 ), code, computer, download ( 2 ), exchange, gadgets, games ( 7 ), QR, technology ( 3 )

Computer Exchange Android App

I would just like to announce… you guessed it, another android app i made (in a very loose sense of the word), using AppsGeyser. It’s just a simple app that takes you to the Computer Exchange (CEX) website. CEX is a technology store that buys and sells games and gadgets.

If you want to download the app, click click here or scan the QR code below

Michael Collins 11:56 pm on 09/12/2011
Tags: amazing, compatible, computer, dublin ( 4 ), games ( 7 ), girlfriend ( 8 ), linux ( 5 ), notebook, pizza ( 2 ), retro, ryan ( 2 ), sex ( 3 ), soul mate, spike, tracey ( 12 ), trip, ubuntu ( 2 ), windows ( 5 )

My Trip

Ok, so yesterday i got back from Dublin after spending almost a week with my perfect girlfriend Tracey. It was amazing. I’ve never felt so compatible with someone. She really is my soulmate and I don’t want anyone else. Except Jessica Alba, but she knows about that.
But yeah, we spent most of the time playing games and having sex and reinstalling windows on her computer and trying to install Ubuntu, which wasn’t co-operating. It would help if it had a working cd drive (good job i brought my blu-ray drive) and a bigger than 40gb hard drive .
She took me to Dublin town into a retro game shop called rage. It was heaven. I also saw the famous spike. It was taaaaaall.
We watched the notebook together while eating pizza. She cried at the end. So did i. Not really. I didn’t!
Anyways, it was amazing. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. I love her so fucking much. She’s perfect for me

Michael Collins 12:11 am on 13/08/2011
Tags: android ( 8 ), birmingham ( 2 ), computer, games ( 7 ), geek, google ( 7 ), htc ( 5 ), linux ( 5 ), me, nexus ( 5 ), nintendo ( 2 ), playstation, sega ( 2 ), technology ( 3 ), tracey ( 12 )

A Bit About Me

Ok, so for those of you that haven’t read my profile, here are a few things about me.

I… am Michael. Shocking right? I’m 26, I live in Birmingham, England. i do have the accent. I have a girlfriend. Her name is Tracey, she’s 31, from Ireland. I’ll tell you more about her in another post.

I currently work part time in a call centre in Birmingham city centre. It pays decent, but i want to work somewhere i actually enjoy. It’s not a bad place, but the work is quite repetitive.

I’m a geek. I like lots of computer and technology related things. You know i’m a geek when i’m the person people go to when they have problems with their computer. I’m also a linux user. I’m against Apple and Microsoft and i only use them when i have to. Like at work. I prefer to use free, open source software as opposed to buying stuff. No point if you can get it for free, right?

I’m also a gamer. Not just modern games. But old ones. I have some pretty old games consoles, the oldest is an Amiga 500. I also have an Amiga 1200, a Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast. And dome more modern ones like PS3, PSP… that’s all 😀

I also have 2 Android phones. a HTC Hero and a Google Nexus S. I also have an Android tablet, An Asus Transformer. With the dock. It’s awesome. They all are. Except the Hero.

anyway that’s enough geekiness from me. Have any questions, ask. Follow my blog. All that shiznit. I don’t remember if i told you my youtube account. I think so, but just in case i didn’t it’s http://www.youtube.com/user/micol19 and my Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/micol25.

That’s enough blabbering from me, see ya next time.

The Parts You Might Want to Know about a Simple Man's Life

My life and thoughts on things

Tag Archives: computer