Random Ideas, Comments & Thoughts, Sometimes Political, Sometimes Adult… Hope you don't choke.
I saw this picture this morning and all I could think of was Godzilla or one of the other Japanese monster movies.
In the Japanese monster movies they often had lightening strikes as the monsters were waking up.
I didn’t know that it was a natural part of volcanic eruptions. Thinking about it, it makes sense with the fine particulate dust being kicked up in the air.
I’ve seen mixed reports that there were injuries and / or deaths. I’m hoping that those reports are incorrect.
I finally found a company (American) who gave me a straight answer on my computer battery compatability. I ordered the battery they were selling, they tossed in the tools and shipped it free.
Cool!
I get the battery today. GREAT response time.
So I power down my computer, then using their tool I unscrew 5 of the 10 screws on the bottom of my computer. On the sixth screw the tool rounded off the splines and was no longer useful to remove or re-install the screws I’ve got neatly sorted on my counter.
$%^#@$%^$@!!!! I hate cheap tools!
This tool is fairly specialized so it’s not like I can run to the local Radio Shack and buy it. The tool they sent is obviously made in China, it’s got the battery company’s logo on it and is made with some kind of metal that I could probably melt with a match.
NOW WHAT?
I don’t want to use my computer with half the screws removed, primarily because I started on the end of my machine where the board, network card, and SSD hard drive are mounted.
I didn’t know if the screws I’d removed were intergral to holding those components in place. (Turns out they weren’t but I wasn’t sure.)
So I grab my iPad and start searching for the tool. Hmm, Frys carries it. My ususal store didn’t have one. I expand the search and am fully prepared to drive to El Segundo or the San Fernando Valley, if necessary. As luck would have it, the Frys in Industry had ONE, only one.
A sonic boom was heard as I left my home. Actually this is neat, it’s the first time I’ve ever had reason to go to this particular Frys.
Some of you may not know this… I love tools, (no, that doesn’t convey it, I’m a tool WHORE.)
I love having the “right tool” for the job. What this means is that I left Frys with more than just the Pentalobe driver I actually needed.
Years ago I had an absolutely awesome tool kit. I lost that kit in a fire and have been slowly rebuilding a new kit with good quality tools.
(I had great quality electronic tools in the kit I lost. I built that kit over about 3 years, by keeping a list of, “Gee it’d be nice to have a blank”.)
My current kit is built much the same way and while not complete yet, has a decent collection of good quality tools in it.
After spending way too much time shopping in the tool aisle I’m on the freeway heading home. 3 hours later I arrive. LA traffic is unbelievable 24/7 nowadays.
With the proper tool in hand, (a nice case hardened steel affair with a comfort grip,) the remaining five screws came right out.
The bottom of my machine came off, exposing the battery and components of my machine.
Five more screws, this time Torx; one last connector and the old battery was sitting on the counter.
While I had the computer open, I cleaned dust out of the fan, and cleaned the intake vents. A little Preventative Maintenance never hurt anyone!
The new battery was a perfect fit. So again, using my nice new tools I screwed everything back into place.
Now I’m in a twelve hour battery charge cycle, tomorrow I’ll discharge the battery fully and then we’ll see how much longer this new beast will last. The capacity is slightly larger than the original battery. I have no idea how that will affect the run time on my machine.
The old battery had gotten to the point that I was only getting about 1.5 to 2 hours on a charge.
When the machine was new I’d get 6 hours before needing to recharge.
All told, replacing the battery probably cost me almost $200 bucks. (I could have had Apple do it for $129) But I got new tools (Yay!) And when I get ready to upgrade my hard drive it should be a snap!
I’m counting it as a win.
As you may have gathered, I’m not a super big fan of Windows. I dealt with XP and over time it became familiar and therefore somewhat comfortable.
I moved to Windows 7 Professional and admit that I liked it after a while but the transition was less than easy.
I skipped the Windows 8 debacle, and the 8.1 fixes.
Apparently Microsoft skipped Windows 9.
I dubiously approached Windows 10. But because I’ve got images of my Windows 7 workhorse, I figured that I could afford to play. And I have…
I’ve also learned a couple of things that may or may not be useful in the future.
1) Have a FAST connection.
2) Make sure you have a LOT of free disk space.
3) Don’t let your computer sleep.
4) Be Patient!
My installation was a bit more difficult than it needed to be. I figured Windows 10 would tell me prior to beginning the download and installation, that I would need additional space. It doesn’t. So what happened was I downloaded the files then windows said it didn’t have enough space. The installer gives you the option to connect a USB device BUT it expects that device to be ready to go. (In other words you can’t delete files to make space if the device doesn’t have enough free space)
That being said once you get things downloaded and the installer is running, you are pretty much home free,
Which leads me to this.
I like Windows 10!
I don’t like it $200 bucks worth if I was having to buy a copy, but I like it well enough that I wish I’d kept the bootcamp partition on my Mac. Don’t get me wrong, I like what virtualization brings to the table but I’d like to run Windows 10 natively. I may re-install the bootcamp partition on my mac and then re-upgrade Windows 7
Even in virtualization, Windows 10 is smooth, and quick. Things are where I expect them to be and for the first time in a very long time, Windows is enjoyable to use.
The office integration is really quick. It’s obvious a lot of time and though was put into Win10 and that office applications were always supposed to be part of the picture.
So to Microsoft…
Great Job guys!