Friday, April 29, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
I knew there was a reason why I went to uni
More workstation woes over the past few days at work. It seemed that I have been doing nothing but fixing people's machines over the last week.
The machine that wouldn't boot into windows after I've put down the ghost image, well it's finally working. After two calls to operations and two support calls from the vendor (which involved two changes to the hard disk, and a brand new motherboard), the machine just won't boot from C:\.
Having exhausted all our options, I decided to try and install the OS from a CD. After the first few screens, fragments of my ITN533 practical sessions just popped out of nowhere and told me to poke around in the recovery console. The system files seem to be there and look alright, so the image should have gone down ok. Then a whole heap of words came into mind, like ntldr, boot.ini, fixboot, fixmbr... I don't really remember what they are, but I get a pretty good idea from their names. Eventually I tried fixmbr and got asked the usual "are you sure you want to do this" question. Well the machine wasn't doing much anyway so it was worth a try. Ran with it and rebooted and it worked, just like that! It was a big relief as I no longer have the contractor scavenging for a computer everyday.
So I didn't waste my time at uni after all, that going to uni wasn't just a social exercise. I actually did learn something and remembered what I learnt.
The machine that wouldn't boot into windows after I've put down the ghost image, well it's finally working. After two calls to operations and two support calls from the vendor (which involved two changes to the hard disk, and a brand new motherboard), the machine just won't boot from C:\.
Having exhausted all our options, I decided to try and install the OS from a CD. After the first few screens, fragments of my ITN533 practical sessions just popped out of nowhere and told me to poke around in the recovery console. The system files seem to be there and look alright, so the image should have gone down ok. Then a whole heap of words came into mind, like ntldr, boot.ini, fixboot, fixmbr... I don't really remember what they are, but I get a pretty good idea from their names. Eventually I tried fixmbr and got asked the usual "are you sure you want to do this" question. Well the machine wasn't doing much anyway so it was worth a try. Ran with it and rebooted and it worked, just like that! It was a big relief as I no longer have the contractor scavenging for a computer everyday.
So I didn't waste my time at uni after all, that going to uni wasn't just a social exercise. I actually did learn something and remembered what I learnt.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Ah a long weekend
It's been nice today; a bit windy yet sunny for most of the day. Got up at around 10:30, had breakfast, did the dishes, got the wardrobe ready for winter, had lunch and it's now 4:40.
Went and saw a play last night with Peta and Chandni. It was great! It was about a child care worker's first day. I'm glad I'm in IT. I guess I don't mind working with kids, it's the parents that are the problem.
Had my first dose of office politics yesterday. Didn't like it at all.
Went and saw a play last night with Peta and Chandni. It was great! It was about a child care worker's first day. I'm glad I'm in IT. I guess I don't mind working with kids, it's the parents that are the problem.
Had my first dose of office politics yesterday. Didn't like it at all.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
What a day!
Work was horrible today, nothing seemed to work. I HATE BUILDING WORKSTATIONS! And I had to build 2 today.
First there was Gaye's which won't compile VB projects after last week's rebuild (which thankfully I didn't have to do). After some series google searching for an hour we decided to scrap the whole thing and do a fresh reinstall. WinXP went down alright so I started installing components like IIS. As usual, it asked for the CD but this time it asked for the SP2 CD. And guess what, we only have the SP1 one. How can operations not have told us that they've upgraded the SOE, especially with something major like that! Reluctantly I lodged a help desk call and some guy eventually came 3 hours later.
Then there was Rebecca's machine. It had a warranty call this morning and got a new hard drive so it too needed to be built. After loading the ghost image of the OS, the thing just won't boot into Windows! It just stayed at a blank screen with a blinking cursor. It would do POST alright so nothing's wrong with the hardware. So off I went and called help desk again. They eventually called back at 4:30 saying someone will come tomorrow morning. Rebeeca is a contractor and she charges by the hour, what am I supposed to do! She won't have a PC for at least half the day and there won't be a spare PC for her to use tomorrow.
But then not everything was so bad. The highlight of the day was at lunch. Jared and Thanh announced that they're engaged. They are so sweet and I am so happy for them. Sana, being the only person who didn't know about it before lunch today was clearly surprised. She was overjoyed, a bit like how I felt when I found out on Saturday. Ah the wonders of MSN messenger. I can't wait till the wedding now. The first thing that came to Jeremy's mind seemed to be what food we will be served at the reception. That's so typical of him. But then he asked whether he'll get invited...
First there was Gaye's which won't compile VB projects after last week's rebuild (which thankfully I didn't have to do). After some series google searching for an hour we decided to scrap the whole thing and do a fresh reinstall. WinXP went down alright so I started installing components like IIS. As usual, it asked for the CD but this time it asked for the SP2 CD. And guess what, we only have the SP1 one. How can operations not have told us that they've upgraded the SOE, especially with something major like that! Reluctantly I lodged a help desk call and some guy eventually came 3 hours later.
Then there was Rebecca's machine. It had a warranty call this morning and got a new hard drive so it too needed to be built. After loading the ghost image of the OS, the thing just won't boot into Windows! It just stayed at a blank screen with a blinking cursor. It would do POST alright so nothing's wrong with the hardware. So off I went and called help desk again. They eventually called back at 4:30 saying someone will come tomorrow morning. Rebeeca is a contractor and she charges by the hour, what am I supposed to do! She won't have a PC for at least half the day and there won't be a spare PC for her to use tomorrow.
But then not everything was so bad. The highlight of the day was at lunch. Jared and Thanh announced that they're engaged. They are so sweet and I am so happy for them. Sana, being the only person who didn't know about it before lunch today was clearly surprised. She was overjoyed, a bit like how I felt when I found out on Saturday. Ah the wonders of MSN messenger. I can't wait till the wedding now. The first thing that came to Jeremy's mind seemed to be what food we will be served at the reception. That's so typical of him. But then he asked whether he'll get invited...
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Gibberish literature
Interesting news for the day: Students from MIT computer-generated a conference paper that makes no sense but yet was accepted by World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI), scheduled to be held July 10-13 in Orlando, Florida. Now no wonder why some conference papers are harder to comprehend than others!
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Google Maps
Google now has a mapping service where you can find locations of businesses, directions on how to get there, as well as satellite views of the location. Try doing the search "Statue of Liberty in New York" and google will take you to the map near the building. It won't point to the building because it's not a business. Zoom in a little and you should see Liberty State Park in the middle. Keep zooming in on Liberty Island and then switch to satellite view. The link is at the top right corner. And you have the Statue of Liberty. How cool is that!
Unfortunately the search is only limited to the States and Canada. I can't wait till maps are out on the rest of the world. I know I'll be doing a search on where I live when the Brisbane map comes out.
Unfortunately the search is only limited to the States and Canada. I can't wait till maps are out on the rest of the world. I know I'll be doing a search on where I live when the Brisbane map comes out.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
My supervisor for my honours wanted me to do some research with her that extends on what I did. She suggested that I should go to this weekly meeting their research group has. And so I went today.
It was weird - there were about 12 people and apparently there were a few new faces too so we had to introduce ourselves, and guess what I was the only one who neither work or study there. Didn't I felt out of place, and over-dressed too. High heels and suit jacket just don't go with research groups.
The guy presented today is starting his phd. I recognise him from my research methodology subject. He has now finished his masters and decided to do more research. He must've loved it, otherwise he wouldn't be back for more. As for me, I was there because Richi said I should.
I don't feel like I'm 100% committed to this yet. A large part of me is excited that I can build on what I have started, but another part reminded me of what angst I had during my honours. You know the feeling when you desperately needed help but knowing the only person who can help you just can't help you anymore because she needed help herself. I don't want to go through that again! I can't blame her - she was heavily pregnant and a little depressed. Even she admits it when she talks to me now. Hopefully things will be different this time with Richi being back to her normal self and me not putting any pressure on myself. If the research doesn't go anywhere, then so be it.
It was weird - there were about 12 people and apparently there were a few new faces too so we had to introduce ourselves, and guess what I was the only one who neither work or study there. Didn't I felt out of place, and over-dressed too. High heels and suit jacket just don't go with research groups.
The guy presented today is starting his phd. I recognise him from my research methodology subject. He has now finished his masters and decided to do more research. He must've loved it, otherwise he wouldn't be back for more. As for me, I was there because Richi said I should.
I don't feel like I'm 100% committed to this yet. A large part of me is excited that I can build on what I have started, but another part reminded me of what angst I had during my honours. You know the feeling when you desperately needed help but knowing the only person who can help you just can't help you anymore because she needed help herself. I don't want to go through that again! I can't blame her - she was heavily pregnant and a little depressed. Even she admits it when she talks to me now. Hopefully things will be different this time with Richi being back to her normal self and me not putting any pressure on myself. If the research doesn't go anywhere, then so be it.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Something slithery
While my mum was looking for a lost key on the weekend, she saw something moved in the grass.
It was a huge python, probably soaking up some sun to help it digest whatever it just ate. I filmed it moving if you're interested. It made its way to our neighbours, who just happened to be a snake catcher. Go figure. Lucky our chicken is still well and alive.
It was a huge python, probably soaking up some sun to help it digest whatever it just ate. I filmed it moving if you're interested. It made its way to our neighbours, who just happened to be a snake catcher. Go figure. Lucky our chicken is still well and alive.
A new home for my blog
I've finally got around to setting up a new blog! The old one at blog-city was rather limited. I've decided not to port my old posts - not that there wasn't anything interesting there...
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