Cæptain's Log

I just realized that the SMA connectors used in wireless systems in computers are reverse polarity connectors when my SMA right angle connector came in.

It had the wire pointing out of the nut end where the SMA connectors I’ve seen all have the wire pointing out of the bolt end – meaning the connector I bought was completely incompatible with my antenna / U.FL adapter.

I spent $5.20 to order an RP-SMA right angle Male – Female from China, as nobody in this country seems to advertise any for sale….    Expect more delays to my antenna project.

I believe I just finished installing my essential programs list on my windows installation; here’s a rundown:

• Firefox 3 – browser
• Thunderbird 3 beta – email
• Notepad ++ – notepad replacement
• Damn Nfo Viewer – to view .nfo files
• GMA Booster – clock netbook’s Intel video chip to 400mhz
• WinRar – archive tool, .rar .zip extract .iso etc…
• Magic Disc – mount .isos
• Utorrent – torrent program
• Auslogics BoostSpeed – registry cleaner/defrag, disk cleaner/defrag, windows optimizer, tweaks, etc.
• Combined Community Codec Pack + Media Player Classic – video codecs & light video player
• Skype – video conferencing
• Kaspersky Anti-virus – antivirus that doesn’t constantly lock you out and yet still does a good job
• Microsoft Office 2007 – for word, power point and excel
• Adobe CS4 Suite:
  • Photoshop
  • Fireworks
  • Illustrator
  • Dreamweaver
  • Flash
  • Acrobat
• NI MultiSim (Circuit Design Suite) 10 – drafting program for electronic components, just in case

Most of this is free – the stuff that’s not free is ludicrously expensive (except BoostSpeed) and I would recommend free alternatives if you aren’t a professional and can’t justify the expense (or you are a wuss and don’t want to pirate it).

I went to my parents house this weekend to pick some stuff up to sell on ebay and to get my escort back and although it wasn’t a bad time, I suppose there was some bad karma this weekend waiting for me.
First I decided to install an Alpha version of an invite-only os – Jolicloud (which is basically Ubuntu Netbook Remix reskined and with a really flashy, networked application installer).  However, during the install, I set it to (supposedly) have grub make the default boot my Windows XP partition.  Unfortunately, it erased the MBR and screwed a bunch of shit up – and since I was at my parents house for the weekend I didn’t have anything to repair the MBR with – and if I did, I would have to load a windows disc onto a USB drive since I’m using a netbook and I don’t have a disc drive for it.
So I just did a system restore and wiped my almost-full 130gb partition to hell.

I’ve done this a million times and it’s always gut wrenching and stressful as you’re doing it / shortly after – but you get over it and realize that most of the data isn’t that important – even though this time I wasn’t able to back up all my emails and lost a bunch of contacts / important information that I’ll have to look into recovering sometime when I need it.

So right now I’m in the process of reinstalling everything and getting everything the way I want it.

I considered moving to windows 7, but I didn’t have the usb installer on me at the time and I don’t feel like reinstalling everything AGAIN….. even if my data (what little I’ve accumulated in the past 24 hours) would be backed up…

So anyways, after that I figured that I’d atleast get to drive my own car back home (if you don’t know the story and want to know then ask me – it’s short and uninteresting but I don’t wanna write about it) – but when I took it down to fill it with gas I realized that the speedometer doesn’t work (the rest of the tac does though, so it isn’t a fuse or anything).  That along with the one headlight that is burnt out (unless the brights are on) and the sunroof being broken into (from some asshole who got into my car and unscrewed my shiftknob and used that to bust my sunroof out from the inside) and the main problem with the rear wheel being cocked at an angle and burning through tires every 6 months really sucks…  but whatever…

On an unrelated topic – I just bought a 9-cell battery for the netbook and a right-angle SMA adapter so the antenna doesn’t stick out of the netbook so far that it would risk breaking off – with my new layout it should rest comfortably across the battery when not in use, and stick up parallel with the monitor when erect; and I can’t find a drill, which I’ll need to make the modification……. which is gonna be the biggest delay, probably….  I’ll see if I can get a good dremel bit for this project, as I’ll be mounting the SMA plug in the Kensington lock spot.

I’ll update when more parts arrive – I’m still waiting on most of them (my router and the cable came quite quickly, but I still need the card and the right angle adapter to finish the hack, and I haven’t even gotten the 3 shirts I ordered last week or my replacement windows casebadge).