HP Officejet 4500

Note: Antivirus was uninstalled and the printer was unplugged from the beginning.

On HP’s support website make sure you  get the Officejet 4500 All-in-One Printer – G510g and select the correct version of your operating system for 64 bit, in this case it was home premium.

Download the full software suite, let it extract and let it crash. When Windows pops up asking you if you want to let it install with recommended settings, do it. This actually worked.  I was able to get through the setup without any problems. Hopes this helps those going through hell with this printer.

I normally wouldn’t say this about a Windows-based operating system, but I’m actually enjoying using Windows 7. There’s something very pleasant about the operating system overall that both OS X and KDE have. It’s a calm blend that happens whenever you leave your computer alone and take a close look at it…

I enjoyed Windows 7 so much, I installed the 64-bit version over the 32-bit. While I can’t take much advantage of the advanced memory management of a 64-bit OS provides (4GB required minimum), I still feel it’s very stable, ultra fast, and low-maintenance. In fact, the stupid delay when pressing the logo key is gone entirely!

The main thing you notice on a fresh install, is the initial theme. I didn’t think anyone could do it better than Apple, but Windows 7 utilizes the aero transparency and a perfect background to give you a great feel the second you boot up. Initially you get just the Trash Bin icon and the Send Feedback icon, the taskbar contains only Explorer, Internet Explorer, and Media Player “task” icons, which is very navigable. The tray icons are pleasant, simplistic and neutral, much like you find on Ubuntu and OS X. I can’t express how much I love the “hide-a-way” for extra icons in the tray, and you can actually turn off system indicator icons you don’t want!

I read ahead a bit about the advantages and disadvantages of 64-bit, and drivers happened to be one of the downfalls. When I opened up the device manager, I was missing two Unknown drivers. I wasn’t about to panic, as they were non-critical, I had sound, display, both network connections, seemed fine to me. I’m quite sure Windows updates caught the both of them.

Hilariously enough, my wi-fi LED doesn’t work in Windows 7, and the switch does absolutely nothing, not a big deal, but would annoy the crap out of a customer. The main point I’m trying to relay here, is that Windows 7 has the makings of an incredible competent OS like Windows XP. Obviously, the more you use an OS, the more you get used to the quirks, and frankly this doesn’t have many for me because I was used to Vista. The application switching is more natural to me, and I like it infinitely more because of my limited screen space, I really need to be efficient with windows management.

Of course, 64-bit can run 32-bit software, so a few applications (Opera, Pidgin) run without slowdown or any problems at all. I’m currently using the 64-bit only Mozilla Minefield and it seems about as fast at launch as Opera, if not slightly slower. According to a few sources, without 4GB of RAM, you can’t see the real advantages of 64-bit. The primary advantages are easily seen in math heavy applications, or video encoding. After reading that though, and seeing as RAM is dirt cheap, I may be upgrading in the very near future to see the mind-blowing speed of 64-bit power.

Apparently, 64-bit has been around since the 1960′s, which was used in super-computing. I guess since it’s technically more expensive and it’s difficult to rewrite 32-bit stuff for 64-bit, 32-bit went mainstream. However, Windows 7 and manufacturers will be making a great strides toward the movement into 64-bit only computing. We should have done it forever ago.

A long time ago, I came upon Groove Salad, an Internet radio station that plays all sorts of odd music, but is oddly perfect while using your computer, or blogging for that matter. I occasionally capture the names of some songs and go back and listen to them later. Here is one of the funky ones, be sure to listen while chilling out and drinking herbal tea.

Or-If-Is – Astro Radio

]]> http://rbelliongames.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/musical/feed/ 0 itslupintic screenshot http://rbelliongames.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/a-few-things/ http://rbelliongames.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/a-few-things/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:32:23 +0000 itslupintic http://rbelliongames.wordpress.com/?p=754 ]]>

I’m guessing it has been noticed by now we’ve slowed down considerably. What happened? Well what was the major reason we ground to a halt last time… Oh that’s right, Evan’s computer broke. It appears he’s having for REAL hard drive issues this time. We shall see how things turn out. Anyway, here’s a two-for post for you.

I was previously going to make a post about my defense on hating monkeys. Then my finger slipped and I lost all my work, didn’t bother to hit the “Save Draft” button, because the post was short. So here’s the would have been post…

I must be one of the only guys on the planet who doesn’t like monkeys. I’ve never been fond of the little guys, I don’t think I hate them, I just don’t want them anywhere near me ever. I think they are hideous, I don’t find their antics amusing, they typically smell, the fling feces, I mean, there isn’t really much to like, so.

But to some people, I’m sure, that isn’t a good enough defense. Whilst researching endangered and extinct species, I came across an old favorite.

The dodo.

I had forgotten about the bird and that it at one point in time existed. I was reading the Wikipedia article and found a nice little excerpt on as to why they went extinct…

…when humans first arrived on Mauritius, they also brought with them other animals that had not existed on the island before, including … Crab-eating Macaques, which plundered the dodo nests… currently, the impact these animals – especially the pigs and macaques – had on the dodo population is considered to have been more severe than that of hunting.

They were purely endemic to Mauritius, and humans bring monkeys, who in turn go and destroy an ecosystem. Way to go you ass-scratchers. Actually, I wrote that little bit for fun, it really never comes up about why I don’t like monkeys, actually. I think it’s a matter of personal preference, like just about everything else. Now for the second tiny article.

I decided to put my power computer to work tonight and strain the Internet connection. Starmen.net was hosting the wonderful RadioPSI, the likes of which I haven’t listened to in years, and it was just about to start! I hurridley copy-pasted the stream address into my media player, fired up Team Fortress, downloaded and installed an IRC client and joined the radio channel, and opened up my IM client. I was making sure to do the most with my four processors.

The radio announcer made mention he was going to focus heavily on Suzuki Keiichi’s band Moonrider. Even though the music was ridiculously unfitting, it was still very good. Their official website is straight out of the nineties as well. It’s also not in English, so I haven’t ventured around too much. Hopefully Evan will get his junk fixed soon.

A truly awesome mix of Fur Elise and the Tetris song we all know in love. If you know both songs, like me, the transitions between the two will blow you away. It’s an older video, but it still rocks.

Also, I’ve been busy since I’ve been back at college but I started working with Game Maker again tonight. No idea when the next update will be, but it shouldn’t be too far off.

So you’ve heard that it’s happening and you’re quite sure it has promise. Well, that’s nice, but it’s time for you to get a real look into what Windows 7 is all about. I’ve made an almost thorough video of the features of Windows 7 and why it still leaves a bad taste in your mouth, sort of.

So if you’d like to look before you buy… or… whatever you plan on doing to obtain it. Read on.

Yes, the quality is disgusting, but I zoom the camera in… manually, so don’t fret.

Click here to watch the video.

Were you surprised? I wasn’t. Also, just about every image under “Windows 7″ in Google Images seems ridiculously fake from what I’m seeing, and what is in the video. Those screenshots aren’t even kind of representative of what the current beta is like. Whatever.

This isn’t our actual house, I have no pictures of the house, but it conveys the feel of the house.

I lived in a  hotel for the first semester at my college which was awesome. You see, they overbooked the dorms at my college this year, so they put some transfer students up (FOR FREE) in a hotel. It was a really good experience despite the complaints that I may have made over the course of the year. Unfortunately, this semester, we had to be moved out of the hotel. Fortunately, we still got free housing. But unfortunately again, we got the absolute worst house possible.

After doing everything right, and being the only group of people that showed interest in the houses, we ended up with the exact house that we requested NOT to get. If that wasn’t bad enough, the house we ended up, with which needed the most work, had NO work done over the winter break. We came back and moved our stuff in today without seeing in first, and when we got there, we saw that there were roaches on the floor, dirty carpet, peeling walls, broken windows, etc.

Needless to say, we went nuts. We were promised a clean house, fresh paint, and new floors. But what makes the whole thing worse is that the other two houses got completely furnished with TVs and everything.

So here I am, back at the hotel for another week. Supposedly our house should be completely finished by Saturday, but I don’t believe that it’ll happen.

I’m really shocked by what  little mention on a website can do. As quickly as we fell under, we came soaring back up because of Evan’s one BBY at the airport post. To think that if he could get a mention here and there, we may actually have a popular blog on our hands. It seems that with blog popularity comes increased responsibility. If you want continued success there has to be a standard to which all posts must then conform. Maybe I should start sticking the address for this blog in random places. Or I should switch to quick posts,

“Here’s a cool video!”

Done.

I hope you weren’t actually expecting a cool video. That is not what this post is about, I figured I would take this post and turn it into a television series review without including spoilers.

If there is one thing I’ve never liked about cable television, it’s censorship, the lack thereof, too much of it, and no quality control. Can you understand what I mean? Some writers have brilliant ideas, they want to make a ground breaking television show that has all of what people want, but they can’t include most of that because of censoring. I’m not saying it’s impossible to make a television show without having explicit adult content, but some shows would probably be better on Showtime or HBO. For instance, Curb Your Enthusiasm is definitely not appropriate for any standard cable channel, but it wouldn’t be the same without the adult content. It’s a great show, and would be ruined if it were to be censored. Or just never aired.

I really just want to make mention of a great show that uses its freedom to the maximum. 

Californication

It comes on Showtime, and I must say, it’s quite an excellent show. It features a burnt out writer who hasn’t written anything in years in a tumultuous relationship with his never-wife,  her boyfriend, their daughter and his daughter. It’s a supreme entanglement of people who not only aid in balancing each other out, but each form their own unique, deep characters. The show is laid out in a roller-coaster/train wreck manner, there are those moments where you are brought up to highs and plummet into serious moments that you can’t look away from. 

Who brings the show together? David Duchovny. I haven’t seen him since X-Files, but he’s a surprise! Amazing actor. He plays Hank Moody, a character that’s easy to like given he’s exactly what all likable characters are, human. He’s a flawed, easy going individual with a grasp on what he needs and how to get it, but being weak enough to lose it. There are oh-so many television icons who wish they could be a fourth of what Duchovny portrays in this series, honestly, anyone else would have just ruined the part.

It’s a show full of amazing antics, foul language, drugs, nudity, twists, embarrassing moments, partying, drama. I couldn’t ask more from it honestly, I don’t think I’ve had a moment where I went,

“Man, I wish this show had – “

The formula for good television is pretty easy. Good actors + original plot and scenarios + good film elements = genius. However, Californication isn’t as popular as one might expect it to me. It’s an outstanding show and I’ve not seen anything like it in… probably ever. It deserves much more credit than some may give it. However, I do feel that with everything there is exceptions and it may not be your particular cup of Columbian Roastmasters Coffee with half cream and two sugar packets, but it’s worth a watch. Who knows, maybe you like Seinfeld and that’s your trade off?

Either way, make it a point to watch the show at some time or another, and watch it slowly, good television is always watched too fast.

I know that my writing tends to focus a lot on my work, most likely because it’s the most interesting thing I’ve got to write about that’s tame. I’m not saying I have many wild and crazy nights, but for the content of the blog, I’ve got to keep the audience broad.

I also think that hearing real inside stories about how a company is truly run is a great way to make change on a much bigger scale. If everyone has the same inside knowledge as the employees, the playing field is leveled, and a business would have trouble evolving into something like a monopoly. As long as one person understands why I keep writing these, I’ll feel good about it.

Onward with the tyranny… 

I was actually going to maybe throw a few positive things in here or something, but since tonight happened, it’s game over. I’m officially fed up with Best Buy, I know I’ve complained a lot in the past, but it was the final straw tonight. I realized we were super colliding with failure harder than any other point in time, and I was poised to take action.

I started writing this post the day my vacation was ending, realizing how fun it had been. Not the greatest four days of my life, but excellent in the fact I hadn’t been thinking of work at all. I had been reading, hanging out with my friends, making the most of my time, I don’t regret how I spent it, really. When my last day came, it was time to start putting things back into order, how I was going to feed myself, when I needed to be to work… and what kind of shape work was even going to be in.

Let me put a clarification statement here. The only thing that determines how screwed we are, is how many computers need to be fixed. That is it, it doesn’t matter if the new functionality check list is pages long, or there is tons of crap to be shipped/received. 

For obvious reasons, people have become SUPER dependent on their computers. So much so they become enraged when they are not around their computers because the general public doesn’t understand that stuff happens. Granted, I do deal with many nice people on a day to day basis, but most customer’s don’t want to hear,

“It’s going to be $200 and ten days.”

Which is about where it’s sitting right now. The breaking point tonight was when management failed harder than I have seen them fail in a long time. I had sent an e-mail out on Monday, describing how I’d turned in my new availability, but not early enough but it’s over a week before that schedule happens, change what must be changed. Tonight is Friday, I open my e-mail and just see, “See who you can swap with.” Absolutely nothing has been done to prevent the immanent failure that is going to occur. They could have redone the schedule just like they did the FIRST time when they made it and saved the now catastrophe. There is now a day when there is a uneven two hour gap and no time for anyone to take lunches and stuff. 

It is partially my fault for not turning my availability in earlier, but I don’t feel bad because they had a full week to change a schedule that hadn’t even been worked yet, and absolutely nothing was done. The thing is, I’ll probably have my ass chewed out about it, and I could care less. I recently put the screws to this place by giving away a day of work to someone else and then made it seem like he shouldn’t show up for work AND came in early on the scheduled day and made my boss fly into a rage. 

They can’t afford to fire me, the senior is now the new in-home agent, and they barely have enough weekday people to cover shifts. If I were to jump ship, they’d be much, much worse than they are now. I could care less, in a company that refuses to hire required people, I have no sympathy. 

So I took the plunge and updated my resume and filled out my profile for student services and am now slated to get a new job. I’m enlisting the help of my college because they have co-op programs that can get me work with reputable companies that don’t accept gross incompetence.

Gross incompetence, I recently found out, is a fireable offense. As the name suggests, you lied your ass off on the resume and they’ve found out you have not a single clue as to what you’re doing. Definitely not a fireable offense at Best Buy.

I should have made the move a while ago, but things were not looking too bad at work. They don’t pay me bad, and there are times when I do enjoy my job, as tough as that may be to believe. There is a certain amount of respect that comes with the job, and making people that happy does make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  

But for all who may think…. We do not sell computer/camera/television replacement plans. Period. Ever.

You know, I’ve seen a lot of movies and television about college life, and I’ve got to admit, there was a lot I was expecting coming in to college that just didn’t happen. When I first came to a university, so much ridiculous stuff happened, I probably should have been keeping a journal of some sort to keep record of all the extra stupid things. I am in my third year of college, so I think I’ve got some room to talk about how it has been.

This won’t be a story catalog of things that have happened to me while at college. This is going to be more of a “how I’ve adjusted to college” deal. 

When I was younger, my mother told me, “Son, you need to marry an ugly girl so she can cook for you.” From that day on, I vowed to learn to cook so I could marry whoever I wanted regardless of her ability to cook.

Cooking was an essential skill I knew I would need going into college. Being well versed in the kitchen realm keeps your wallet a bit fuller and your gas tank a bit fuller as well. Cooking with store-purchased ingredients allows you to make multiple meals that cost significantly less, and are sometimes better than what you can buy pre-made from a fast food place, or from a super centre. There are plenty of stereotypes made about college students gaining weight because of the stress and lack of healthy eating. Honestly, if I didn’t have to work at the same time, I would eat pretty healthy. There’s a stereotype about college kids and pizza, I’ll tell you this, I only eat pizza because of two reasons.

A) I found out a large is $5.

B) It makes two meals.

In fact, I only eat out once a week, unless someone invites me out. 

I spent my first year of college at a community college, so I lived at home and never had to worry about food. When I finally moved out an into an apartment, I took my knowledge and went grocery shopping. I found out quickly that time constraints and irresponsible roommates were going to severely limit my ability to cook at my leisure. I had to buy stuff that other people didn’t want so they wouldn’t steal it, and use my closet as a pantry. 

I narrowed it down to where I stopped buying things that perish really easy. Milk, bread, yogurt, stuff with expiration dates are always tempting, but they end up being such a waste of money because most of it just spoils. 

So frozen food has become immensely popular. So much so, it’s almost my entire diet. Everything about frozen food is wonderful. 

It cooks really fast.

It’s relatively cheap.

It can keep for months.

Massive variety

What isn’t to love? I’ll admit, frozen stuff always tastes worse than its fresh counterparts, but the easiness and low price really makes up for it. So here is what I boiled my diet down to. 

4-minute beef roast au-ju, makes two meals, tastes great.

Frozen chicken tenders + frozen mozzarella sticks, tasty, ultra cheap, makes weeks worth of meals when spread out.

Fried porkchops, about $2.50 a meal, cooks up fast, cleanup is simple, and tastes incredible and homemade. 

That’s pretty much my diet up here besides eating out from time to time. I hate Wal-mart with a passion, and shopping by yourself is just unfun, so I keep myself stocked well and trip infrequently. Good cooking is time consuming… between clean-up, prep, and cook time, it’s a drain on my already full schedule. I think I’ll continue to keep it simple.