a spree of blogs

I figure if I post a bunch of posts while I'm sitting here it will look like I've been posting more regularly. So here is the update on all things TAC:

*latin and math are still hard. latin is really hard.

*Annie hurt her back, she has been in a wheelchair for a week now. Jack pushes her to all her classes.

* we get the day after holloween off! (all saints day)

*did i mention latin is really hard?


*we start discussing predestination in theology this week so i expect that to be interesting.

* latin is really hard.


thats about it. thanks to all the people who left comments, thats what got these posts up here.

P.s. Good luck to anybody near a fire, i know its late but i hope the smoke didnt get to any of you too badly and that everybody is safe.

The golden compass

I hear the movie is watered down. I hear the books are outright anti God. I see a problem.

I hate it when people take things on hearsay. Yah, I know its probably better safe than sorry. When I hear thousands of people who have never read the books complaining about the problems with harry potter it just bothers me.

Thats just the beginning though. Heres a bigger problem with this movie (the golden compass). I really believe its linked with principles i strongly detest. How can i both boycott it and be well informed at the same time? theres no way on earth i can be qualified to renounce this movie without seeing it. and if i see it then i add one more number to there opening box office total. even if i just rent it i later i still boost there ratings.

I have a way around this, i wont mention it here but most of you will figure it out. its still a problem though.

another problem is how much attention even a boycott gets something like this. take harry potter for example again. i never would have known what it was till people started complaining about how bad it was. then i read it.... i still cant see the problem. i might be able too. if somebody who had read it was willing to explain it to me. but all the people who would like to explain how evil it is to me havnt actualy read it.

bottom line is... i wish people wouldn't try to be knowledgeable on things they havn't seen, maybe urge caution, but don't try to announce to the world what you shouldn't see it. just send them all to go see Bella.

Please Turn Left at the blog.

Thats a picture of my in my holloween costume. total time invested 10 minutes. $0

I Blog, Therefore (my family knows how) I am

Hi,

So I didn't blog for a while. Most of that time was due to my laptop being broken (because i dropped it and the hard drive crashed) [luckily hard drives have good warranties that say something along the lines of "impacts of less than 50G should not break this drive" and therefore it was replaced with a net expenditure of 2.32$ shipping and handling for me.] I finally got it working again last Thursday. Since that time i have been either traveling too or from san diego, at san diego, or trying to catch up on the homework that i didnt get done due to going to san diego (which i have almost done) [ok, actualy i was behind before i left].

For those of you who haven't heard my tale of woe. Don't let the following mislead you, going home was, and always is, a blast. I forget how much i miss everybody until i see them again. However, the train ride there..... well..... heres a timeline:

4:15 Left campus
5:00 Arrived and bought ticket for 5:20 train
5:50 train actual arrival time
6:15 Conductor announces that a train is stuck on the tracks ahead of us
9:00 train is finaly cleared and we begin to move (yes, almost 3 hours)
9:20 Rail switch is broken, frustrated conductor "fixes" it with a sledge hammer
1:20 Power is out for a stretch of track, lack of visibility forces us to slow down
2:00 Arrive at san diego station on the 10:20 arrival train.

As mentioned above though, San Diego was a blast. My trip was scheduled around Nicole's birthday (and the 3 day weekend for Columbus day). I went with Nicole and her family to see The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. I was shocked to see how small the scrolls were, but the exhibit was really interesting. Other than that I ate alot and saw Nicole alot and went to church with my family and in general it was a very good trip. Even got my seminar reading done (on duties by Cicero)

Anyhow, I should at least be posting on the weekends from now on, I'm going to be more careful with my laptop. Remember, i dont know you were here unless you leave a comment. At some point i will figure out a How-To on having atomizer email you when i post so my irregular postings wont leave you checking endlessly with no updates. Thanks for reading!

-Patrick Shechet

oh the bourocracy

So last week I pulled a comdial phone out of a box.... all such phones have to be inventoried by mr. collins because there being sold as a lot. so i took it to his office. he wasnt there, so i wrote down the seirial number and a note and left it there, took it to the other side of campus and put it into storage. the next day he showed up at my office and asked about the phone, i showed him were it was found and explained to the best of my knowledge how it got there (since this was before i started working in IT) he had enough information so he left. so today i get a memo in my box saying "mr. collins needs more information about the phone, please see him." so i figure, i dont know anything more about the phone so i go dig it out of the storage areas and bring it to his office; where he is very confused to see me again, i show him the memo and he starts laughing..... this is because the memo is a result of him asking his secretary to write me a memo in the 18 hours between when i left the note and he came to ask about it. the memo just happened to take 5 days to get to me.... moral of the story, im never responding to anything quickly again ;)


on the upside David six and i are thinking of making some custom electronics for fun. more on that later.

laps

to those of you who have been checking this. Sorry for the lapse. I had been able to post very easily for a while since I had a laptop. The hard drive in the laptop broke (partialy my fault, partialy the hard drive manufacturers, none the laptops) so it has been much harder for me to post. The hard drive was under warranty and is going to be replaced. Untill then there will be less posts.

Helium Article: Laptop Buying Tips

self explanatory.

A decent Laptop usually costs upwards of a thousand dollars. However, with the smallest amount of extra effort, a screwdriver and the ability to plug two plugs together,you can get a great laptop at less than half that price. Here is how: *

The brief:
Buy a laptop in which the LCD panel has been damaged but the laptop is intact, and then replace the screen. Doing this I recently purchased a laptop that costs $1440 in stores for less than $500.

The details:
1.) Go to an online Retailer like Ebay and do a search for something like "Laptop Broken LCD" or "Laptop broken screen". Shop around at a few different sites to find the cheapest you can get the specification you want. Some buying tips. Make sure your laptop is listed as working other than the broken screen. Look to see if the power adapter and battery is included. Remember that the cost of the LCD and shipping will add between $150 and $300 so spend accordingly.

2.) Once you have successfully finished purchasing the laptop go too www.screentekinc.com or any other online retailer of LCD panels and look for your model number. Don't buy the screen from that site though, you will pay double whats its worth.

3.) Take down the model number of the LCD screen you need from the site and go back to ebay or any other online super retailer. Look for that model number until you find the best deal you think you can.

4.) Once you get your screen you need to install it. Remove the battery and power cord from the laptop and make sure you are grounded by touching a piece of something large and metal. Now, carefully remove the plastic from around the broken panel. (this usually involves four or more screws, often located under plastic caps which can be easily removed.) Once you have removed the plastic frame gently pull the broken LCD away from the backing, it might be fastened slightly by some adhesive but pull slowly and steadily and it will come away. There should be two cords attached. One larger at the top and one smaller at the bottom. The larger one supplies the picture while the smaller supplies the voltage needed to run the backlight. Both cord should pull out fairly easily. observe the orientation of the ends. Now the old screen should be completely removed. To put in the new screen you simply do the same thing in reverse. Take any plastic wrap off the new LCD. Place it in the same location as the old. Insert the two cords in the same orientation they were in in the old panel. Replace the plastic Paneling and screw everything back together securely.

5.) Thats it, you have a working laptop for much less than it would normally cost. Good luck!

* If your replacing an old laptop because the screen is broken your in luck. Simply skip the first step and your laptop should be back in working order for around $200. Thats about $300 less than a repair shop would charge.

Learn more about this author, Patrick Shechet