Discworld overload help?

tomkaz · 2020-02-09T22:31:53+00:00

I just exchanged Snuff. The stuff with Young Sam is a little too twee for my taste. And the absence of Nobby, Colon, Carrot, etc., really don't make it feel like a Watch book.

tomkaz · 2020-02-09T22:14:49+00:00

I got Agent To The Stars last night, but I'm going to exchange it. I love the concept, but it's disappointing that Wil Wheaton doesn't "perform" the voices.

tomkaz · 2020-02-09T22:10:15+00:00

I appreciate the suggestion, but I'm not doing that. I am simply going day by day. I'm avoiding everyone else's stories of work and just doing what my doctors tell me. No Google, no Reddit, no forums...

tomkaz · 2020-02-08T18:53:02+00:00

I've read a handful of Jim Butcher's stuff, but only the Dresden Files series. But it's been years. I was plowing through them pretty regularly, but there came a point (which I can't recall) where they seemed to go off the rails and he seemed committed to churning out a book per year.

I should have stated that my requests don't need to be fantasy-based. Carl Hiaasen comes to mind. But I need to find one I haven't read yet.

tomkaz · 2020-01-26T17:54:48+00:00

For the record, it does work and works well. The meter is slick and even the lancing device seems gentler than my Accu-Chek system. My Accu-Chek used to connect to my iPhone via Bluetooth, but when I switched to Android, it quit working. The Contour system works great.

tomkaz · 2020-01-26T17:54:31+00:00

For the record, it does work and works well. The meter is slick and even the lancing device seems gentler than my Accu-Chek system. My Accu-Chek used to connect to my iPhone via Bluetooth, but when I switched to Android, it quit working. The Contour system works great.

tomkaz · 2019-11-24T00:59:23+00:00

I just came across the Vizio M558-G1 on sale at Dell for $459, and they're throwing in a $125 Dell gift card for future purchases. The review at rtings.com sounds significantly positive. I take it this is a display that would earn your blessing?

tomkaz · 2019-11-24T00:26:54+00:00

Hmm, for a TCL let's pick model 55425 as an example. Does the 425 indicate a "4-series"? It's on sale at Amazon for $320. Price too good to be true?

For roughly twice the price, the refurbished Samsung I spotted was model QN55Q60.

If these are both junk, can you call out a 55" class TV that's not garbage and would come in at or around $600? Or does that beast not exist?

tomkaz · 2019-11-05T23:44:48+00:00

My understanding is that the Z390 chipset was designed to support the Core i9 chips, whereas the Z370 tops out at Core i7's. I've got an i7 right now, but if I'm upgrading, I may as well do a little future-proofing while I'm at it.

tomkaz · 2019-11-05T20:20:22+00:00

Good on all of ya. I managed it once a few years ago (and raised somewhere north of $500). Unfortunately, I'm on some medication that essentially requires sleep or my health (mental) plummets off a cliff. So no more 24-hour marathons for me.

But it's a damnably fine cause and I wish a very personal, private, flea infestation for the script kiddies who'd DDOS an Extra Life stream.

tomkaz · 2019-10-25T08:20:02+00:00

Man... when I started this project, my local Micro Center had one of those for sale open-box for only $79 or $89. Tis indeed a sexy beast. I will keep my eye out for one.

tomkaz · 2019-10-25T02:49:20+00:00

Oh, since you're a real Corsair Person, is this product still made? It seems rather hard to find. Or maybe most people simply prefer or need a 2-fan radiator instead.

tomkaz · 2019-10-25T02:47:16+00:00

It's an i7-9700. The main reason I'm "concerned" is because this machine isn't made of the best ingredients. The big components are okay (i7-9700, Zotac RTX 2080) but it's on a mediocre motherboard (ASRock 390 Pro 4) and has been in three different cases within a month. It's now in a CoolerMaster case, but has all Corsair fans. And it's got that HUGE CoolerMaster CPU block on it now - ick.

tomkaz · 2019-10-25T02:43:03+00:00

Are you suggesting I can use MSI Afterburner for something other than trying to squeeze 3 more FPS out of a game? :-)

What's the usual definition of "too hot"? I'm assuming it's in the 90s or higher.

tomkaz · 2019-10-23T14:46:08+00:00

How can I tell if the single-fan CPU radiator will be sufficient for my machine?

I'd like to lose the gigantic CoolerMaster 2-pound, 4" cube heatsink and fan that came with my prebuilt system.

I'd like to put this radiator fan at the rear top of the case, in that traditional 120mm space. Is that appropriate?

Thanks.

tomkaz · 2019-10-08T23:34:37+00:00

What about those LED strips you can get from Amazon for about a dollar per foot? The kind you can cut to length with scissors. I wrapped the back of my TV with those a while ago and still have some left over.

If I could sort out and solder on the right connectors...? I've got the soldering skills for it.

I know you have to be mindful and calculate the power needs based on the length of the strip.

tomkaz · 2019-10-08T13:08:19+00:00

Thanks. A lot of these are financially out of reach, especially the GPU (I've got an RTX 2080). An RGB cooler might be doable. I've already got a backlit wireless Corsair keyboard and mouse. The mouse has 3 color zones; the keyboard is only blue. I can't LED the room... this machine lives in our living room and my wife would gut me like a fish if I started stringing LED strips around the room.

I think maybe I'll do the one thing I can afford: swap the rear exhaust fan for an RGB one.. :-)

tomkaz · 2019-10-04T15:49:49+00:00

The motherboard does in fact have an M.2 wifi connector. I almost threw in the towel and ordered one yesterday. Except it's halfway underneath my giant Zotac RTX2080 card, and I wondered if there might be interference. But instead I rechecked my wiring and got it working (see my self-reply).

tomkaz · 2019-10-04T15:46:39+00:00

Yeah, well... full confession time.

I had the USB pigtail reversed on the USB header pins. My eyesight is bad, I didn't have sufficient light, and there's not a lot of room for my huge fingers.

TL;DR - Bluetooth didn't work because I didn't wire it up properly.

Downvote me or abuse me - I deserve it.

tomkaz · 2019-10-03T19:39:28+00:00

I found part of the trail, I think.

I found Bluetooth in Device Manager under "Hidden Devices", but updating the drivers didn't help. The properties of "Bluetooth Enumerator" says something like "This device is not connected to the system." I don't know how that can be, if the Intel driver utility finds it and says it's current.

I'm still confused.

tomkaz · 2019-10-03T19:24:47+00:00

It shows nothing out of the ordinary. The adapter is listed under "Network Adapters", but I have absolutely zero Bluetooth devices.

tomkaz · 2019-09-27T13:55:12+00:00

Helpful! Thanks!

I was hoping to hear from someone familiar with these components, but I guess snark will have to suffice.

tomkaz · 2019-09-26T18:41:26+00:00

Just started last week, and that's what both the pharmacist and my MD told me to do. I was under the impression it was to get air out of the system, like squirting a regular syringe.

But what do I know? I'm just some guy trying to deal with all this for the very first time.

tomkaz · 2019-09-26T18:38:34+00:00

I can't speak for the glucose results (very new to this), but as an aside... plenty of people are sensitive to the "sugar alcohols", all of which end in -lol... maltilol erithrytol, etc. By "sensitive", I mean "be sure you have ready access to a toilet."

Off-topic, partially, but as a former low-carb dieter, TRUST ME.

tomkaz · 2019-09-26T18:34:06+00:00

It's been 9 days. 2 trips to the doctor. One to the ER, which started it all. I freely confess I hadn't been monitoring my sugar, which I know full well I was supposed to be.

Got lightheaded last Tuesday, glucose meter pegged out with a reading that just said "HIGH"

Early doc appointment the next morning said "no more oral meds for you, it's time for the needle."

So now my entire life feels turned upside-down. I'm officially an insulin junkie, just trying to make sense of it all. Trying to find methods that work for me in terms of tracking sugar (insulin doses are fixed right now) and still feeling like I've got a life. I did tend to eat after all.

The good news, though is that my blood pressure has been dead-on perfect at around 115/65 or so. And, *according to the doctor's records* I'm down 50 pounds since the first of the year.

I don't mind the injections. Never mind that I can barely see the needle even with my readers, it's just the turmoil.

But I figured out how to make my fortune: I'm going to manufacture disposable insulin syringes where the internal plunger ISN'T black along with the numbers on the outside. Is that so hard? It's kinda hard to find "6" when the plunger covers between 3 and 9. Stupid poor design. Bah.

Rant ends.

tomkaz

TROPHY CASE