I "Built" a computer

In order to do some work at home I need a more powerful computer than my laptop in order to run AutoCad.  I'm not ready just yet, but I hope to also place adds for per contract AutoCad drawings for whoever wants to pay for them.

"Building" a computer sounds like quite a nerdy thing to do.  But in my defense, I knew almost nothing when I started, and my biggest problem came when I forgot to plug the power cord in. 

It seemed more complicated than I thought that it would be.  I had expected that most of the parts would have advanced to the point where they would be very simply labeled and obvious to plug in.  Maybe they are, but with names like "PCIe" I'm not sure that computer building is as easy as it might be.

In two, or three hours, of over thinking every connection, I had it up and running on my first try, with all connections, that I know of.

I still don't know much of anything about all of the computer parts, so I found some other guy's parts list and approximated his "build" for mine.

My computer's parts were based off of the computer parts from Return of the $750 Gaming PC Build.

Several changes were made, I don't remember them all, but one change was to use this case:



I also watched the following YouTube videos, which helped a lot:

I still know little about computers, but it seemed fairly easy to do.  Some things I learned:

• Its not "building" its assembling.
• There are a handful of parts that need to match.
• A modular power supply, whatever that is, might be preferable to my tangle of unused cables.
• Hardware assembly is easier than I was led to believe it would be..
• Cable management is easier than I was led to believe it would be (only the unused excess power cables are a mess).
• I still know little about computer software, and hope to avoid ever needing to.
• I've found another place to waste too much money on things like quieter fans.

Can you be right and a nut at the same time?

Race has something to do with it. A lifetime of mixing with East Asians has left me with the impression that the level of nuttiness there is somewhat higher than it is among Europeans. I don’t have much direct experience with blacks, but people who do tell me that high proportions of them believe in something crazy: AIDS is a CIA plot, a mad scientist named Yakub created the white race, O. J. Simpson didn’t kill his wife, etc.

Oh, and all those blacks being murdered in Chicago? Illinois State Rep. Monique Davis says it’s the cops:

There’s some suspicion—and I don’t want to spread this, but I’m just going to tell you what I’ve been hearing—they suspect maybe the police are killing some of these kids.

-Taki's mag

No time for posting

Fishing and work are filling my time too much this week.  Regularly scheduled programming to continue in a few days.

Politics is a Waste of Time

I used to spend too much time thinking about politics.  I wondered, for example, how incompetent all of our politicians must be since we never have a balanced budget.

But now that I've stopped watching TV, and therefore the news, and stopped exchanging comments with the commenters at the Huffington Post, it seems that I'm more relaxed about the whole subject.

Someone else: "Something happened politically."

Me: "Don't care, but it will be worse than you think it is."


Someone else: "Politician X is an incompetent jerk."

Me: "He's worse than you think, and don't forget about his corruption too."

And that's the extent of my new conversations, and thoughts on politics.


That's not to say government is any less incompetent, corrupt or awful.  I just attempt to spend more time ignoring it.


On the other hand, I just got a speeding ticket.  Who was my alleged victim?  If there is no victim, then why is it a crime?  If its just potential victims, then why not fine me for committing every crime ever?  Potentially, I could commit any or all of them.

And I also grow plants for deer (food plots, fruit and nut trees, etc.).  For this I need fertilizer.  Some places do not sell fertilizer with nitrogen, thanks to laws forbidding it.  How are plants supposed to grow without nitrogen?

And I wonder about how much more difficult it is to create something than it should be.  What are the relevant laws?  Where would I find the relevant laws?  How am I supposed to be productive if i don't even know where I can look to find all the relevant laws?  Maybe they're making everything illegal so that the government can direct our live however they see fit?

Where have I heard a similar idea before?

I still spend too much time thinking about politics, but I only do so now when its forced upon me.

How much better off would we be if the only laws were: don't harm others, fulfill your contractual obligations?

A commenter at Reason.com said he saw a study that concluded that were it not for government interference, the median yearly American income would be north of 300k.  I can't imagine how such a think could be calculated, but I don't doubt we've lost a tremendous amount of prosperity thanks to the government.

One Liners...

...to defeat political arguments.

Obamacare

Keep your laws off my body.

Abortion

Do you ask pregnant women: "how's the fetus?"

Death Penalty

The government can't get anything else right, why would they be competent at killing people.

Stimulus spending

Is there any amount that would have been enough to fix the economy?

School choice

But...I thought you were "pro-choice"...

Border fences

What makes you think such a fence wouldn't end up being used to keep you in and paying taxes?

Gun control

I dare you to put a "gun free zone" sign in front of your house.

Atheism

There is more support of atheism now than in past decades; and our society has gotten...as a result?

Buy Local

What makes you think increased shipping costs is worse than increased production costs?  See: growing citrus in cold climates


This post was a better idea before I started writing it.  Perhaps I'm not in the mood.  Put better lines in the comments.

Quote of the Day, 7/18/2013

Never look at an ugly thing twice.  Its fatally easy to get accustomed to corrupting influences. 

- C.F.A. Voysey

RIP my favorite fishing rod

My favorite fishing rod was lost to weeds while trolling a shad rap yesterday afternoon.

A Berkley Lightning rod and Abu Garcia Cardinal reel with which I've caught muskies, walleyes, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pike, brown trout, rainbow trout, yellow perch, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, rock bass and perhaps a few more species of fish.

Not the greatest spinning rod/reel, but the only one that I have sentimental attachment to. 

The reel that preceded the lost one also caught many fish and now rests in a glass topped box which contains such "treasures" as my first pocket knife, my grandpa's pocket knife, my first fishing hat (which I wore to my first day of kindergarten and last day of high school), my first wallet, the tag for my first buck, and a few other things. 

I had planned on preserving that rod and reel in perhaps a shadow box to commemorate all of the fish it has caught.

I'm now sad, it seemed to always feel like a part of my right arm, and went wherever I went fishing.  My biggest walleye (31") probably came on that rod, and the dozen bass that were caught on my beaver lake Rapala (as opposed to the 10 caught on a combined four other rods) recently came on that rod.  And my first stream trout.  And too many smallmouth bass to count.

A sad day.  All other rods are just things.

Not quite, but nearly, the smallest trout caught on my rod:

Stupid weeds!