Category: Meandering Update

I made and received the third big order/purchase of computer stuff since moving here, and everything has now been installed and verified workable. I now have a full audio setup, full video setup, all the bells and whistles (excepting the Linux computer) so I’m right about where I was before I had to move, with some mild improvements to avoid further complications and hassle.

Except for use-case testing. (Verified workable just means the equipment plugs in, turns on, and does what was advertised on the box.)

Whassat mean? Well, I started getting ready to just go, and I realized very quickly that things ain’t ready yet. That verified workable isn’t use-case tested.

I’m running low on space on the Mac, this Windows PC needs some further attention and love to clean things up and make things run better, and I really, really, really need to organize my data, as if the loss of those site backups hadn’t already made that abundantly clear.

At least I caught myself this time.

And today was spent looking into things, to further define and clarify what still needs to be done.

Regarding the computers – the Windows computer could use a RAM upgrade, but thanks to the Data Center rush, the cost to max out the RAM would be almost double the cost of the computer itself. So that’s on hold. The Mac is maxed out, and it’s an Intel chip and officially out of support, so any other upgrades for it would be silly – but the new Mac that matches storage and RAM would cost ~$2200, so that’s not gonna happen immediately. The theoretical/​imaginary Linux box – I still have more research to do, but what would’ve been $500 two years ago is at least $750 now, with a less capable processor and/or slower RAM. Which isn’t a big deal, but I really need to define use case better before I find a way to afford that price jump, or navigate the right concessions to bring the price back down.

All in all, it really makes me wanna punch Google and Apple and Microsoft and NVidia and all the other data center makers out there. In the sensitive bits. Repeatedly. Wearing brass knuckles.

But the physical audio mixers and splitters are just what I needed to replace the software mixers that weren’t reliably working. Yeah, there are additional cables going all over the place, but that’s a price I will pay to avoid every OS update, software update, or other configuration change that breaks everything. (If I had a nickel for every time a sneeze broke the volume levels/​hardware recognition/​MIDI connection between my Yamaha keyboard and Mac OS, I wouldn’t be worrying about the cost of the RAM upgrades or even the new Mac, possibly not even worried about the cost of BOTH at the same time….)

Also, having two monitors per computer is so amazingly comfortable. I had forgotten that having two monitors on a computer is so freeing, making it workable to watch videos or reference text or websites or articles while working on the other monitor. I cannot properly describe how much better it is than shuffling between windows and tabs or workspaces/​desktops on one screen.

I probably have a few more changes to make for lighting, and I might need to get a few more external drives, but all in all it’s mostly done. I just need to get everything playing well with everything else, and I need to do my cleaning.

Well, I have some other things in the works, so I think I’ll go back to researching Linux distros while waiting for those things to come to fruition before announcing.

Thanks for stopping by, reader. I hope the world is treating you well, and that you’re able to put something positive out there to fight off the negative. I’m trying, good lawd, I’ma trying.

Skåll!!!

I’m making progress on recovering all the things, but it’s a slog. Working 10-hour days in a factory really takes it out of you, especially when that day starts at 06:00 on the dot.

I’ve mostly gotten used to the physical labor in the job, but the waking in the wee hours of the morning and going to bed a couple hours after getting home really doesn’t leave me much time to think, much less socialize.

But I’ve finally gotten two monitors on the Windows computer, and am planning to get the second monitor for the Mac at the beginning of next month. And I got the USB/Midi audio cable for the musical keyboard, and it works on both computers.

I was also planning on getting a physical audio mixer because the software mixers I have tend to stop working periodically and I’m just tired of it. But if existing problems weren’t enough, I also just had my headphones die. I’m hesitant to buy another headphone set, because the last set was many months of research to find something that was only good for two years. But I may need to anyway, because of the recently departed.

I’m also debating getting an inexpensive Linux computer to simplify/centralize some file management, but I haven’t completely decided if I need to do that or if I should wait. I’m currently doing research on current Linux distros and modern filesystems with Linux services and tying that to cloud services to see what options/benefits are to changing things up.

After some initial research, I will say this about Linux – things have changed a lot since I last toyed with things. It looks like some distros have streamlined filesystems/locations as things like SSDs have replaced HDDs, CD-ROMs have disappeared, and USB has won the port hell that was the 90s and aughts (only to make it worse again by having USB 1, 1.1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) Another positive is that desktop environments seemingly have made amazing advancements, and I haven’t seen anything lingering about X.org….

So yeah, I may convince myself to get that inexpensive Linux computer just to be able to delve deeper into things and reacquaint myself with the system after an extended absence. I mean, if I’m honest, I’m not a Linux/Unix guru, I just was comfortable enough to be able to build a Gentoo system with a custom kernel, or be able to configure an intranet webserver with related file services. I don’t even know if MAN is the canonical way of finding guidance anymore.

ANYWHOO, yeah, Linux kinda derailed this meandering update.

I’ve finished reacquiring the majority of the kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, and general living stuff. All that’s left is the specialty stuff.

But I also have to start thinking about the future, namely moving in June. So, yeah.

Thanks for tuning in to my blathering. I hope the world is treating you well, and that you’re able to make the world a bit better, even in these time of externally-stupid-induced hardships.

Skåll!!!