Thursday, June 26, 2008

Project: PC Reconstruction!

Years have passed since I got my wonderful computer. It has served it's purpose well and without fail. But alas, it's hardware has gotten obsolete. I plan in replacing some of it's parts in order to tune it up.

So far I'm thinking of Power Supply (ONE THAT'S SILENT), a Motherboard, and a CPU. Those are my priorities right now. I can still handle with 70 GB of space and 1 GB of RAM ain't that bad.
My Graphics Card is in good shape and better than my 6 month old laptop, so thats not needed. Besides, the only games I'm currently playing are Touhou and they don't need fancy stuff.

I plan on reinstalling Server 2008 and I may go with 64 bit this time. I just hope my check fills my budget for this.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Operation ~ A week later.

So after 8 days I was sent back to my surgeon's office so that he could remove the tapes/bandages/whatever he had put on me after the surgery. I must say, I was imagining myself suffering from pain, but infact it didn't hurt at all, even one of them tickled me. He said that I can now do almost anything I want. Of course, that almost means what my body can handle due to the sewn parts. I'm basically 95% healed. I'm eating, working, sleeping laid on the side, whatever.

Oh and I returned to work 3 days after the surgery. Let these 2 posts be useful for some people who stumble upon this place who are going through the same drama as I did.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Blog Move

This was quite an unexpected twist in my short-lived blog life. There was a certain thing that prevented me to use my blog propertly which I won't say due to private reasons, so I decided to move all posts to Blogger and basically transfer my blog to here. Atleast this makes it always online... I just need to learn to customize this page propertly.

Now I just sit unpatiently watitng for Star Force 2...

Monday, June 23, 2008

A day in the hospital ~ Gallbladder removal.

So, I finally got my Gallbladder removed. Most WTF experience of my life.
First we got up really early and flashed to the hospital. Once we got to the waiting room... we waited (GASP). Next I was moved to the preparations room. I was a human earthquake, I couldn't stop trembling due to fear.

Later I was sent with the anestesia(?) people. They made fun of me (in a good way) and injected me with something that felt like a cold rush from my hand to arm to body. Suddently I was KO'd.

I realized I was asleep and needed to pee. I started to wake myself up and mumble "I need to pee" but I HAD SOMETHING INSIDE MY PENIS THAT SUCKED MY URINE FROM MY BLADDER. Talk about cock vore... (yes, it hurt when it was took out)

The surgery had already finished 2 hours ago and I was recovering. I was moved to a chair to be injected with pee-inducing fluids and wait until 5 PM to be checked out.

Now I stole my parent's bedroom for tonight and wrote all this from my DS. Yup, I already slept that much.

Windows Server 2008: Logon Screen Customization = not yet

Update: I have noticed that people are still reaching this post. There is a newer post that says that YES IT IS POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE LOGIN SCREEN OF WINDOWS SERVER 2008. I however am currently lazy to go put a link, so just navigate through the blog. It has cookies, er... basic instructions.

Some Server 2008 users, including myself, have encountered the nasty blue logon screen. Sure, I like the fact that it's simple and different than Vista's. However, being the customization freak I am, I just have the UUUURRRRGGGEEE of changing the background.

Part 1: The 'ol fashioned way. I quickly grabbed a copy of LogonStudio Vista and noticed that where it says "Windows Vista Default"(?) there wasn't any image in there. I placed my carefully crafted logon and when it threw me to the Logon Screen... BAM! Still the blue background.

Part 2: After a big f-up with my PC, I decided to reinstall Server 2008. Frustrated with what happened before, I took a peek inside imageres.dll with Resource Tuner. And what did I found? VISTA'S LOGON SCREEN FIRST IN LINE! I once again applied my logon and re-checked it with Resource Tuner and THERE IT WAS. But I could only see the blue BG in the Logon Screen.

Part 3: Desperate times means desperate measures. What did I do? I just grabbed imageres.dll from my Vista installation and slammed it onto Windows Server 2008. The result? NOTHING.

I also tried with a modified version of imageres.dll from a certain Visual Style, still nothing.

Conclusion thoughts: What I believe that's causing all of this is the -source- of the blue background. I have NO idea of where it comes from. If someone could just find a way to remove that layer, I'm 95% sure that the real logon screen will be visible.

Note: I am not a programmer... this is just based of what I have experienced and may not be accurate. Please consult your life manual if you want to follow this all the way.

Best meal EVER.



That is all.

The personal irk with Vista

Windows Vista... The OS that has been criticized for a shitload of things that are way too much to mention here. HOWEVER, as an user since the RC1 phase I'm writing about the few misses that I've experienced.
1. Maximized = Black: At first, I thought this was a bug during the development of Vista. I was full of hope that they made it transparent for the RTM version, but we were stuck with a black BG that varied depending on the color chosen. Some people like the black, some people don't. I wish that an option for choosing between those two would have been awesome.

However, with stuff like VistaGlazz, those few sentences were a waste of my valuable time :D.

2. Windows Explorer: I must say, Microsoft did an awesome job redesigning the Explorer UI. However, there is one thing that really sets me off, and that's how Explorer works . In my experience, it feels like it's trying to read the files the same way a PS2 loads data. It's slow as hell! But after using Windows Server 2008 x64 that problem has almost been solved. (In there, not Vista)
3. People complaining about UAC: This isn't directly about the OS, but damn! Some people just complain about it to no end! Seriously, the first time I used Vista I just couldn't stand it and turned it off. I was like "There, problem solved.". But some people just stick with it and whine. If you don't like it, just take it out!

There, thats about everything that irks me. I like Vista and it's difficult to stick with XP, but with some fine-tuning, it could become way better.

Evolution of the Taskbar in Windows 7 = "Superbar"







Some of you with a sharp eye might have noticed something very interesting on-screen during the Windows 7 multi-touch demonstration at the D6 conference yesterday. If you did, you might be curious to understand what you saw. If you didn’t, read on anyway. Update: The new taskbar is superficially called the “Superbar”.




Picture credit: Gizmodo


The picture above comes from the video feed of Julie Larson Green’s (Vice President of Windows Experience Program Management) demo of the multi-touch picture browser demo app. The quality is a little rough, but you can easily notice a few things that are different.The first being the taskbar is higher than usual, but not as big as double-height. If I were to guess, I’d say its somewhere around 1.75x-high. In the left corner, the Windows orb remains wedged “on top” of the taskbar - sticking its head out a little - instead of in the center like it is today in Vista.


The taskbar also appears ‘divided’ into sections by variations in the color (dark, gray, lighter) to indicate the different areas. Speaking of which, if you look at the far right corner, you’d notice that the tray (icons & clock) is not touching the edge of the screen, and there’s a small lighter gap. I have no explanation for this, but is well worth keeping an eye on.




A double-height taskbar in Windows Vista


Keeping the focus on the right, the tray is also different. The icons sit in the middle of the taskbar, instead of wrapping in two-lines like it does today, whilst the date now wraps on two lines instead of three. This clearly indicates this taskbar cannot accommodate three lines of text.Most obviously the quick launch icons are now larger in size, but the icon besides it is not a quick launch icon instead an application. I’ve been told this particular Windows 7 build has rendering issues which is why there’s no label or text next to the icon, but there should have been. At the same time, the icon also should have been a smaller version of the “Live Preview” thumbnails you see when you hover over applications in the taskbar today. That would have been pretty sweet. Apparently that feature has been canned .Now you would probably be wondering why I just spent so much effort writing about a taskbar, and the answer is because this is what Windows 7 is about. They’re going to take existing interface elements like the taskbar and give them a new coat of paint with some sparkles. Different enough so you notice them, like Walt Mossberg did.During the demonstration (5:25) Walt asks “I can’t help noticing that the taskbar doesn’t look like the taskbar?” Julie responds with, “It’s something we’re working on Windows 7 and I’m not suppose to talk about it now today.” Shutdown.Guess those Windows “Start Menu” surveys weren’t all flash and no substance.


Source: istartedsomething


Hmm... This seems interesting. Although it's somewhat sad that Microsoft isn't doing any major overhaul for now, it's intriguing how they are modifying existing objects in the M1 release. Simple, yet this is almost what I have been expecting in a new version of Windows: "Existing features, new twists". Even with this it's WAY too early to say "THIS IS IT!". I'm sure Microsoft can atleast deliver one enhacement. Which is better performance.


I'm guessing that atleast one person who reaches this place has already play this awesome game.




Classic Touhou in a fighting world with an improved formula! Mere words cannot express the awesomeness of this game. ...Did I mention it's AWESOME?!For those still in the blank, I have a video containing footage of a Spell Card practice.




Go get it today!