Epic BIOS Fail. [pt1]
Whoops.
After a botched attempt to update my laptop BIOS, my computer is now a rather expensive doorstop. It does not boot properly, and the screen remains blank when it is turned on.
Now, this renders the rather important files on my computer useless, so I have dusted off my old desktop to do my essays.
But frankly, how hard is it really to repair? Very, appearently.
First, I called the Fujitsu support line. I was directed to a live person quickly; probably a slow day. Explain, explain, etc. He finally runs out of fixes and proposes to send the computer in. Sure, that seems that will work. How much?
“Well, it’s $105 for the diagnostic, then if you decide to repair it, it will cost around $200-$555″
Wut? A bit too steep for me. But, I didn’t spend $800 on a paperweight, so I ask for details and receive an address to ship to. I write it all down, and then prepare to ship it to Memphis, where their HQ is. Right before actually sticking it in a box, I call a few people, to see if any of my friends/their friends know how to fix it. One comes up with a fix that will remove all BIOS settings by disconnecting the internal battery, or something. Sounds like it will work. I tell him to do it.
I spend a good 30-40 minutes looking at him opening the laptop to reveal a compact maze of chips and circuits, then he fiddles with something inside, replaces everything, and turns it back on. No dice. But hey, at least I didn’t have to pay. So right now, I have to decide whether to:
1) Send it back and pay a bunch of money. I also checked on Google, and apparently Fujitsu isn’t quick to send it back, and leaves a few things broken while fixing the main problem. It’s also probable they will claim to replace the motherboard and charge me for it while not even touching it. But the article is from 2004. Not sure if they have improved.
2) Send it back to where I bought it. I have a friend there who will make sure it is fixed right and at a good price.
3) This.
Suggestions welcome. Will update when possible.
2 months, 2 shumonths.
Lots of updates, and since I’m a neatish type of guy, I’m going to stick all in order.
First off, Shooter is now the 3rd best movie I’ve ever seen. I first passed it off as a “filler movie”, one of those movies no one really cares about, and released (I think) so it can generate income to keep studios afloat long enough to release a blockbuster. (The only reason I actually watched the movie was because my friends forgot to find out the movie times (we wanted to watch 300 again)) But damn, this movie is good. Acting, I will admit, was maybe a 7/10, the action, storyline, and even those little annoying plot twists at the end were great. My Best Movie Ever (BME List) List goes as:
1. V For Vendetta
2. Spaceballs
3. Shooter
4. Office Space
and so on, and so on.
Afterwards, maybe a week or so later, I went to the good ol’ New York City Auto Show. Thanks to the fact my car’s in the shop, I took the ferry, which was great. The entire thing was like concept car heaven, super-futuristic cars on rotating stages even though half of them wouldn’t get past concept, and 40% of that 50% would be radically redesigned before release. The best part was the Lamborgini section, mostly because they have the wow factor of the concepts, but the knowledge that these cars are for sale, right now. The Jeep trail, er, ride took a close second. It easily demenstrated the Jeep’s offroad capabilities, but I’m still not convinced since this track was laided out specifically for the Jeeps.
Finally, a little thing about disk drive space. After a mere 1 year of owning this laptop, I’ve used nearly the entire hard drive. And I probably need a few more gigs in the future, so I’m looking for a good external hard drive. Any suggestions would be great.
[next update: another 2 months]
Betuh? You’re Kidding! Pt1
5% of you said it would never come.
91% said it would.
4% said “OMG ZETASUCKS U SUCK LOLOL”.
But finally, the 91% has prevailed. The Announcement came late last night (for me), probably so there wouldn’t be a frenzy of people. While most of you are delighted, there are still critics. Of course it isn’t perfect, what is? You weren’t happy before ZB came out and you’re still not happy after the public beta. While I think the critics are people (and competitors) who made their living doubting ZB’s existence, after they have been proved wrong, they are a bit too arrogant to actually admit they are wrong, and instead, ramble on how it’s so bad to distract away from the fact they are posting that in the exact same software they said didn’t exist. Contradictory, eh.
Since I want to ramble on, this is Pt. 1. Pt. 2 comes shortly.
Downdates.
Because “updates” is overused.
Anyway, I’m getting a domain name for a new blog. Still deciding, but I’m leaning towards “ohnoeslogik.com” or something. Other suggestions include:
efnn.com
plantingwithpotter.com (a EFNN subsidiary)
dielogik.com
logikless.com
I’m also welcome to suggestions.
Also, after a boring day, I decided to check my key frequencies that I told WhatPulse to record. Results were surpising. And they will suprise you when I find out how to put up the results here. Darn HTML.
Fate is all twisty like that.
Yesterday, while I was busy playing Defcon, the evil windows crash message showed up for the program, and took it away like a tow truck attached to a piece of paper. I tried to play it again, but it showed the message over and over again. I’ll probably have to reinstall steam… oh well.
Anyways, yesterday’s Battlestar Galactica episode was AWSOME! Spoliers ahead…
(also, if the more button doesnt show up, clikc the post link. Continue reading this entry »
Gamez.
I recently bought Defcon off the usually annoying and buggy Steam, and I like it a lot. I first tried out the demo, since, well, it is money and I don’t want to waste any, and it has a system of gaming I’ve never seen before, and a system I like. According to its “story”, you are a general in some underground bunker and command forces of mulitple countries. As time passes, the Defcon hits Defcon 1, where everyone launches an hellhole of nukes at everybody else. I love it, not because I’m some wh
Yummers.
I bet most of you are saying “OMG! I bet he’s gonna blog about ZB and reveal revealing information!” Well, close enough. I’ll just reveal obvious facts, but that’s not all I’m talking about.
First off, ZB looks veeeeery nice. So HAH to any skeptics who said it doesn’t exist.
Secondly, I’ve been playing a lot of EVE Online lately, and I really like it. Unlike icky WoW, it’s actualy balanced, and it appeals to my Sci-Fi sense of games. And no, I’m not telling you my username/character name.
And finally, a small rant about support. I haven’t done it for a while, so I need to vent a bit. We said it again and again and again and again and again… If you don’t know what the answer is, don’t post. Examples:
Them: Hi, I want to know how to put in a skin. Thanks.
SV: Send ina support ticket lol
While I am not new to this spam/support incorrectness, I still find it verrrrrry annoying. It’s like, why post then? Post count? IRRELEVANT. Trying to get on staff? Well, this isn’t gonna help. Want to get noticed by us? Oh YEAH, you’re getting noticed. In a bad way. We don’t get people on staff who just answer topics with half-baked answers and people who give off-topic posts. We don’t go all evil on you if you do this, we usually warn you and then PM you asking you to stop. Most of the time, they stop, but only for a short time. Rarely, they don’t do it again. And very rarely, they rant about “How they do so much for us and deserve to be on staff, and how they will leave and never come back” That gives you an suspention and usually the person comes back. We are just addictive, I guess.
I had my daily dose of ranting for toay, stay tuned for Pt 2, which is like all my part 2s… short, off-topic, and takes a long time to write. Wait… was that an contradiction? Oh well.
Oy.
I just realized… I need to exersise more.
So this morning, a bunch of friends came over, dragging me out of bed for a morning jog. Since I was tired, I didn’t want to, but nooo, they had to threaten me with a water gun… 
Anyway, before that day, I thought I had good endurance. I never really jogged that month, but I was able to run fast and for a while (in my view), mostly to catch friends who nabbed my books and/or knapsack. We start out, going from the back of the High School down to a bank, 1.7 miles down. I start,pacing myself well, and ahead of everybody else.
Then suddenly, cramps, tiredness, and pain. I started to walk, and when I looked back, I only ran a very short distance… across a small park. I started to run again, again with pains and I finally walked all the way there. My friends, of course, were already there, and even took the time to run into the bank and get some money out of the ATM.
I get there, rest, strech a little bit. Then it hit me… we have to run back. Crap.
And as everybody jogged, I walked iPod in hand. I finally got back, and as usual, dead tired and with cramps everywhere.
And now they’re going to make me run every day. Oh joy.
