Jumpstart Changes
September 21, 2007 at 10:12 am (Firefox, action, add-on, calculator, computers, coordination, entertainment, fiction, free, game, guild, international, mage, maintenance, management, media, monitor, mountain, multiplayer, network, pc, red, search, the five pillars, war, watch)
A suggestion was posted asking for the removal of the Jumpstart server altogether because of the low activity compared to the Normal server. There was vote was held in the forum giving the players a chance to have their say on the game. Majority of the players chose to increase the turn rate of the Jumpstart server. How fast will it be? No announcements have been made but we’ll find out soon. There’s only 7 days left before Havoc starts. There is no start date yet for the next reset. The new and improved server aims to increase player activity as well as the current player base.
Voip on Linux 7.04
September 4, 2007 at 8:06 pm (3d, Amarok, Brother DCP-115C, Feisty Fawn, Firefox, IDE, Mplayer, PSU, RAM, Rhythmbox, Totem, Totem-Xine, Xine, add-on, audio, avi, calculator, call, cellphone, compiz, compiz-fusion, computers, conky, cpu, cpu temp, cube, customize, desktop, desktop effects, dial, divx, effects, entertainment, eyecandy, fiction, free, iPod, international, landline, linux, lm sensors, maintenance, management, media, mods, monitor, mp3, online, operating system, pc, phone, pidgin, plugin, programs, sci-fi, slave drive, softphone, system, temperature, ubuntu, video, voip, wattage, xsensors)
A friend of mine who works for a research company found out today that I have switched to Linux Ubuntu. They use Fedora and Centos in all their workstations. Asked if I knew anything about Asterisk programming, I’ve never heard of it so I said no. Turns out that they’ve been looking for a way to install softphones on their linux boxes. I’ve been scouring the forums for a good softphone and voip provider. There’s Ekiga, Wengophone, Gizmo and Skype. So far the best bet is Ekiga which came with Ubuntu. And for the provider, based on what I’ve read it seems that most of them are from one company – Betamax. But in order to register, you will have to use a windows box since they ask you to install their software first before you can get a username and password. And the installer is an exe file. Some have tried running that in Wine though but I forgot if it worked or not. I will have to research on that further. As far as hardware is concerned, I think I will just keep the headset. A handset will be too much for something that I think I will rarely use. Although that might change if I get this to work and I’ll find plenty of uses for it.
At this point, it looks like Ekiga is more widely used and has a good success rate. The newer versions fix any audio issues. I have no idea if Ekiga works with Fedora or Centos. I’d like to think that it should since they’re still linux. I will test this and see what happens. The search continues…
PC Maintenance and Modifications
August 28, 2007 at 3:20 am (3d, Feisty Fawn, IDE, PSU, RAM, add-on, audio, calculator, computers, conky, coordination, cpu, cpu temp, customize, desktop, effects, free, linux, lm sensors, maintenance, management, media, mods, monitor, online, operating system, pc, programs, slave drive, system, temperature, ubuntu, wattage, xsensors)
How do you extend the life of an old PC? The obvious answer would be to swap out the parts with newer and better ones. This is the first time I’m tinkering with a PC. My experience with computer hardware prior to installing Linux Ubuntu on an old unit is just plugging it in and pressing the on switch. What I have done so far is clean the inside of the case. So much dust has accumulated over time. I just opened both sides of the case, pointed a big fan into it and flicked the dust with tissue paper. All while making sure I’m grounded. I know static electricity can kill a computer. It’s not super clean but it is cleaner now. This pc has the following components: AMD Sempron 2200+, Asrock K7VM3 Motherboard, PQI 512MB DDR400 RAM, GeForce FX5200 Video Card, 40GB Maxtor IDE Drive, and a generic 300W PSU to support it. The 40GB hard drive has Windows XP SP2. I bought an 80GB Hitachi IDE Drive for Ubuntu. I asked my brother how to connect the drive and then I was on my way. It was done with no hitches and the new hard drive was already set to slave. Good for me. Because I have no idea how to do the jumpers.
I’ve been having problems with my RAM for a while now. I was convinced that it was dying because both XP and Linux Ubuntu could only detect about 250MB of it. A few days ago, I was tinkering with it again and actually unplugged and replugged the card into the slot. Lo and behold, when I booted up the pc my RAM was back to 512MB. I tested it on both operating systems and they say the same thing. It’s running better now. I had contemplated getting a whole new ram card but that can wait.
My next concern is the heat and noise that it is generating. On Linux Ubuntu, I have Conky running which shows the ambient and cpu temperature. Ambient is about 40C while CPU can go up to 59C. I’m not sure what the threshold is for Sempron processors. I will have to research on that more. I also looked into checking how much power the pc consumes. Using this calculator, the estimate is about 257 watts. Although my PSU can still handle that, I can’t handle the noise my PSU’s fan is creating. I’m thinking about replacing the PSU’s fan or the whole thing. Replacing the fan sounds easier but for a person who’s just starting to learn about the hardware, it’s a daunting task. And so is replacing the PSU itself! I do not want to fry the components. It’s either learn to live with it or get someone who can do it for me.
Heat management. I’ve been reading up on PC cooling for the past few days and in summary, it’s about air flow. The current setup on my pc has only 1 fan – an exhaust on the side. I consider the PSU’s fan as part of the PSU itself since it is. My plan is to transfer the exhaust fan to the back on the my and add an intake fan in the front. I’ve also unplugged the IDE cable for the floppy and folded it neatly inside since I do not use it anymore and it bothers the air flow. I’ve also adjusted the location of my two hard drives to a few bays down. I’m thinking about getting rounded IDE cables so it looks neater. I don’t think spiral wraps will help my wire management but I’ll have to look in the case again for a more detailed plan of action.
Wish me luck!
