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

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

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!