Month: January 2006

CGI expert who worked on Tron getting honorary Oscar…

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/celebrities/3595098.html

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Computer-generated imaging expert Gary Demos will receive a Gordon E. Sawyer honorary Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday.

Demos, who produced computer-generated scenes for the sci-fi classic Tron and in 1988 founded computer and visual effects consulting company DemoGraFX, since sold to Dolby, is the 19th recipient of the Sawyer award.

The honor is presented to an individual “whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.”

“He’s been involved in many different scientific disciplines throughout his extended career and has always been looking to the future,” Academy President Sid Ganis said in a statement.

Another midweek post…

D'Arque Bishop

Well, it’s the end of another Wednesday, and right now I’m just sitting at home, drinking a Shiner, and relaxing.

It’s been rather hectic at work, what with continuing to get the data and voice wiring completed for the three divisions that are moving in, doing regular tech work, and also planning out a business trip to Rock Springs, Wyoming and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Rock Springs trip is to evaluate a new location and see what needs to be done to bring it onto our network; we only just recently acquired a new company there, so it’s on me to see what needs doing, IT-wise. Too bad it’s going to be so damn cold up there…

For some reason my distaste for Mexican food seems to be softening. Granted, it’s only certain Mexican foods I’ll eat (like fajitas, burritos, and quesadillas), but it’s more than I would have a few years ago. For example, I had Taco Bell on Saturday for lunch (Louie’s idea), and ordered a burrito… and actually didn’t mind it. I must be getting soft in my old age. Then again, I still won’t eat tacos at all, and would have to be pressed into eating anything else. Christine at work once commented that she didn’t know anyone who didn’t like Mexican food; yes, I know I’m a rarity, but that’s just how I am. Give me Italian, Chinese, or even Indian any day.

… and I still need to get the shelving up on my CD cabinets. *sigh*

Yes, my life right now is hectic at work and slow at home. So sue me. I might as well go and get some MK Online stuff taken care of… fun fun…

Gah. I hate building PCs sometimes…

D'Arque Bishop5 Comments

*sigh* Well, this past weekend was spent working on helping my friend Louie build his new PC. A week and a half ago, he came over to my house and (with my guidance) ordered parts off of Newegg to build a monster PC. This thing really was a monster: dual AMD Opteron CPUs running at 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Asus K8N-DL motherboard, an AOpen video card w/ an nVIDIA 6800GT chipset and 256 MB of RAM, a DVD-ROM drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, and two 400 GB Serial ATA hard drives. I went over to his apartment on Saturday, and from there we went to CompUSA to buy a new floppy drive and case for the machine. The rest of the day was spent instructing him in what he needed to do to assemble the machine. By about 6 PM or so, he got the machine entirely assembled. So, we took the machine into his study, hooked it up to his monitor and keyboard, and powered it on.

All it did was beep over and over. Bleh.

After spending a bit of time looking at it, we finally gave up for the evening and went out for drinks. I went back the next morning armed with a little more knowledge as to what was going on. According to the research I did, it was either the RAM or the power supply. After verifying the power supply wasn’t the problem, I remembered reading something in the motherboard manual saying that the machine could actually SAY what the error was. So, I had Louie hook headphones into the system, and sure enough, a voice was saying, “System failed memory test.” I did some research, and found that we had gotten the wrong type of memory for the system. After a bit of reading (and a couple of trips later to Fry’s), we finally got the right kind of memory for the system: registered ECC RAM. I got it installed, and the machine booted fine. I then started the install of Windows XP Professional X64 Edition while we went to dinner.

When I got back and I finished the install, I came to something of an unpleasant revelation: the onboard network adapter wasn’t being detected. I wasn’t able to get it up and working before it was time for me to go home, so I’ll have to go back later this week and see if I can find out why it’s not being detected. If worst comes to worst, I have a spare 3Com 3C-905TX network card that’s not being used that I can let him have. I’d rather get the onboard gigabit adapter working first, though.

Still, this entire weekend was spent futzing around with a PC I should have completed Saturday by all rights. This illustrates one of the problems of building your own PC: if you get stuck, you don’t have many people you can turn to for help. This is why I don’t build my own at the office: if something goes wrong, I’d rather be able to call HP or Dell and make it THEIR problem. :-)

In the meantime, I’ll just hope and pray I can get Louie’s PC finished by the end of the week…

Server upgrades and other miscellaneous fun stuff…

D'Arque Bishop

*sigh* It’s been a busy week for me at the office, but I’ve also been having to deal with some of the problems involving MK Online’s backup system. After the hard drive crash that occurred back around Christmas, I’ve come to realize that simply backing up the databases like we have been doing isn’t the best option. We need to back up EVERYTHING involving the site. I’d been working on a possible solution for the past week or so, and am on the verge of implementing it. At the same time, I’ve been working on improving the data redundancy on the main D’Arque Cathedral server. Well, the work came to a head last night on both projects.

On the main D’Arque Cathedral server, most of the data storage is on a single 80 GB hard drive. I also had a spare 120 GB drive I had left over from when I upgraded my main PC. The 120 GB drive would have been overkill for the MK Online’s backup; frankly 80 GB is overkill but it’s what I had. So, what I did was get on Newegg’s website and order an identical 120 GB hard drive to the one I had. It arrived Wednesday, but I wasn’t at the office to receive it. So, I brought it home last night and got to work installing it. The idea was to set up the two 120 GB drives in the main D’Arque Cathedral server, and set them up as a software RAID 1 configuration. (RAID 1 = mirrored drives.) It took a bit longer than expected as it was highly recommended that I put the two drives on separate cables/controllers instead of the same one, and I couldn’t get a cable that would reach both the CD-ROM drive and one of the hard drives. So, I had to grab my unused drive controller card and put the drives on that. (The CD-ROM is hooked to the motherboard.) From there, it was just a matter of partitioning the drives, setting up the RAID, formatting them, and then copying the data from the 80 GB drive to the RAID. It’s up and running with the two drives; I’ve also got a program running that monitors the drives and will send an email to my Blackberry if there’s a serious problem.

The 80 GB drive will go into a test server I have. It’ll have to wait until Sunday, though, as the server’s motherboard won’t support the 80 GB drive, and I used my spare PCI IDE drive controller to get the RAID 1 working on the D’Arque Cathedral server. I’ll be going by Fry’s tomorrow, anyway, so picking up a new drive controller card won’t be a problem. What I’ll be doing is setting it up where the main MK Online server will do a secure file replication every morning; all site files (including hosted sites) will be synchronized with the copy on my test server. That way if something happens, we don’t lose more than a day or two’s worth of files. I’m not interested in having another catastrophic loss, and this will prevent it from happening again.

Oh, well. The script for the replication is ready; I just have to get the new drive into the test server so we can begin the actual backups. The RAID 1 on the main D’Arque Cathedral server is working fine now, so life is good on that front. Hopefully this will put an end to any further extended downtimes on either site.

Damnit…

D'Arque Bishop2 Comments

Well, this sucks.
I’m at Saturn of North Houston right now, waiting on my car (which is getting its 72k mile service), and have no real net access outside of my Blackberry. They have a wireless network here, but since the last time I came in here, they locked it with a WEP key. So, I’m stuck cooling my heels until my car is finished.
It’s been a fairly hectic week at work, all told. In addition to my usual support work, I’ve been having to oversee upgrades and additions to our phone and data wiring and systems as we move THREE different divisions to the campus at which I work. Moreover, I need to have most (if not all) of it done by the end of the month. The worst of the three migrations will have to be done by Friday. Fun fun… Then, at the end of the month, I have a business trip to Canada (and somewhere else; more details on that later).
On another front, all of this office work and work on the backend stuff at MK Online meant I had to wait on Justin to post the news on Game Informer’s preview of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, which will be the next MK fighting game. I’ve been stuck trying to help fix the PM system on the site, plus finalizing the work on the new backup system so that we’re prepared in the event of a catastrophic crash like we had a few weeks back. I’ll give details on the backup system a bit later, as it ties in to work I’m doing on the main D’Arque Cathedral server. It’s been a lot of work to plan out and prepare, but in the end I’m confident we’ll be ready for the next time we have issues.
Anyway, my thumbs are getting tired from all this typing on my Blackberry, so I’ll just end it here. I’ll post again later in the day once I get to the office.

This explains why the Series One boxset is delayed…

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/scifi.shtml

SCI FI Channel and BBC Worldwide Americas announced today a major licensing deal for the first series of the latest Doctor Who adventures.

The 13-part drama is about a mysterious time-travelling adventurer known simply as “The Doctor” (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). The Doctor and Rose risk death and danger, battling aliens and monsters.

The deal, brokered by Lisa Hofer, Director Co-Production & Sales, BBC Worldwide Americas, grants SCI FI Channel the first run rights for series one with an option for series two. The award-winning series will premiere on SCI FI beginning in March, airing Friday nights at 9.00pm.

Russell T Davies, Head Writer and Executive Producer told us: “The Doctor’s made all sorts of journeys in Time and Space, but this is one of his most exciting yet! I’m a huge fan of the SCI FI Channel, and I’m delighted that Doctor Who is appearing on a channel that supports and enhances the entire genre.”

“With its rich history of imaginative storytelling, Doctor Who is a true sci-fi classic,” stated Thomas P. Vitale, SCI FI’s Senior Vice President, Programming & Original Movies. “We’re excited to add the show to our lineup.”

Commenting on the deal Candace Carlisle, Senior Vice President, BBC Worldwide Americas, said: “The new production has fantastic storylines and production values and has already gained an iconic status around the world. SCI FI Channel is the perfect home for the show and will introduce Doctor Who to a whole new generation of fans in the US.”

In addition, BBC Video has moved the US release date of the DVD from February 2006 to July 4, 2006 to capitalize on the exposure from the TV broadcast. As part of the deal, BBC Video and SCI FI Channel have agreed to work together on joint marketing promotions to support the brand launch.

Yes, Mr. Robertson, this is what happens when you run your mouth off.

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/3579842.html

JERUSALEM — Israel will not do business with Pat Robertson after the evangelical leader suggested Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke was divine punishment for the Gaza withdrawal, a tourism official said today.

Robertson is leading a group of evangelicals who have pledged to raise $50 million to build a large Christian tourism center in Israel’s northern Galilee region, where tradition says Jesus lived and taught.

But Avi Hartuv, a spokesman for Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson, said Israeli officials were furious with Robertson, a Christian broadcaster. A day after Sharon’s Jan. 4 stroke, Robertson said the prime minister was being punished for “dividing God’s land,” — a reference to last summer’s pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.

“We can’t accept this kind of statement,” Hartuv said.

He said the Christian Heritage Center project was now in question, though he left the door open to develop it with others.

“We will not do business with him, only with other evangelicals who don’t back these comments,” Hartuv said. “We will do business with other evangelical leaders, friends of Israel, but not with him.”

“Those that publicly support Ariel Sharon’s recovery … are welcome to do business with us.”

Doctor Who Series One North American DVD release delayed…

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.gallifreyone.com/news.php#newsitemEEFyAykluuMxQkTACl

For reasons that have yet to be made clear, the release of the Series One Boxed Set in the US and Canada, originally scheduled for February 14 as announced by both the official Doctor Who website and Doctor Who Magazine, has been postponed. No explanation has been given, but Warner Home Video, the distributors of the discs, had not released any information on their distributors’ site, and inquiries to BBC Video have gone unanswered. The TV Shows on DVD website reports that they were informed by a BBC PR rep that there were “complications” with the set. We hope to have more information about a rescheduled date on this soon.

Well, this explains why Amazon hasn’t started listing it yet. Damnit… nothing to do now but wait.

Apple introduces the first of the Intel Macs…

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

You’ve dreamed about it long enough. Now it has a name: MacBook Pro. Powered by a dual-core Intel engine. Up to four times the speed of the PowerBook G4. Eight times the graphics bandwidth. With built-in iSight for instant video conferencing on the move. And Front Row with Apple Remote to dazzle everyone in the room. Wait no more. MacBook Pro starts at just $1999.

…

This is the first Mac notebook built upon the revolutionary new Intel Core Duo — which is actually two processors (up to 1.83GHz) engineered onto a single chip. It provides 2MB of Smart Cache, L2 cache that can be shared between both cores as needed. It delivers higher performance in 2D and 3D graphics, video editing, and music encoding. And the new engine is only part of the story. MacBook Pro has a frontside bus and memory that, at 667MHz, runs faster than any previous Mac notebook. It’s the first Mac notebook with PCI Express, a Serial ATA hard drive and the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 for superfast graphics performance.

Oh damn… now I want one. :-) I might wait a bit, though, as my current Powerbook G4 is working fine for me. Still… this looks DAMN nice. If I can dual-boot Windows XP and Mac OS X on it, though, then I’ll definitely be sold on this as a work laptop. :-) Now I just gotta show this to Louie… heh.

Way to throw away your career, Marcus.

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

Louie and I were discussing Marcus Vick on Saturday night (where I was referring to him as “Rick Mexico”), so reading this amused me somewhat…

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=97878&ran=93331&tref=po

SUFFOLK –– Marcus Vick, the former Virginia Tech quarterback who was dismissed from the team last week after various troubles on the field and with the law, was arrested and charged Monday with three counts of brandishing a firearm, a misdemeanor.

The 21-year-old turned himself in at the Suffolk magistrate’s office Monday afternoon, where he was later released on a $10,000 bond. Sunday night, shortly after 9 p.m., police were called to the parking lot of the McDonalds at 6201 College Dr.

The mother of a 17-year-old boy reported that Vick “had pointed a weapon at her son and two others during an altercation,” said police spokeswoman Lt. D.J. George.

Larry Woodward, Vick’s lawyer, acknowledged the arrest Monday, but declined further comment until later in the day.