Whining, links

[brigdh]

Attempts to fix computer: still not working. I seem to make headway, but nothing progresses toward any real goal. At this point, I'm fighting with the urge to just reinstall Windows. I know it's stupid and would lose me all of my data (which is, apparently, recoverable, if I could just figure out how), but I want so much to just be able to use my computer again.

Link Recs:
stagesoflove is starting up again. Go claim a pairing. I'm debating it, myself. I'd like to sign up, because I had so much fun with it last year, but I don't know who to write. I feel like I should leave the obvious answer, Tsuzuki/Hisoka, open for someone else to get a chance to play with it.
Also, go participate in a discussion about how to organize yaoichallenge.
Ne Me Quitte Pas by louiselux. Gojyo/Hakkai, R, and oh, this one hurts in the best of ways.
The Dragon's Tale by harukami. Saiyuki, PG, AU. Gorgeous, fairy-tale retelling. With sequel! The Bard's Tale
Coffin Nails by daegaer. Gojyo/Hakkai, Jeep, PG. Funnnnnnnny.
Next to the Moon by louiselux. Koumyou/Ukoku, NC-17. Is everyone aware of how much I absolutely adore Koumyou? Yes? Then why is there not more fic for him!

...it is really disturbing that I don't have a Sanzo rec today. What has happened to my reading habits? Feel free to enlighten me by pointing out new Sanzo fic I missed.

Comments

[shes-unreal.livejournal.com]

Someone working at a computer store or something would be able to, I think, plug something into your computer that would take out the files and transfer them to, say, another computer. I don't know how else you could get to them though.

I was thinking of setting up my own fic challenge but I doubted anyone would join. >_>

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I don't know; it's a pretty complicated problem. I don't think the guys who hang around in stores waiting for you to come in would have a solution, I don't want to spend the time and money to send it in to a more high-tech place.

I'm sure people would if it was interesting enough. I mean, it's not like the only fic challenges that get popular are the ones started by BNFs. animadri is the person in charge of both yaoichallenge and stagesoflove, which are both pretty big now, and I wouldn't call her famous.

[childofatlantis.livejournal.com]

Are there any computer services on campus you could just go to and say "help! make it work!"?

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I tried that! But the only on-campus tech team will only deal with internet problems, not hardware ones. :/ No fair.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

Gaaahhh! I can't go claim a pairing. I can't go participate in any discussions of how to structure yaoi_challenge. Because of my guilt! I would if I could, but I am effectively debarred until I am no longer delinquent myself.

-- You know, your computer is now making me twitchy, too. It's probably because I'm the go-to girl for the Fashion Girls' computer issues, when they have any: it just feels wrong to me that I'm not looking up schematics for your computer and emailing you diagrams and instructions about what hardware to order, from where, right now.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, hush. No one thinks of you as a delinquent but yourself.

I attempted to buy a new harddrive today, but my local independent computer store was sold out, and the only other one nearby is a Staples, which I hate. Perhaps not all Staples, but this one has the rudest sales people, and besides that, sold me my first laptop, which was put together so poorly that it completely disintegrated in less than two years.

You could follow my attempts to figure out linux in this forum (http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=98944#98944), if you'd like, but I think I've followed all the instructions correctly, and the only thing it's gotten me is that, when booting up my computer, I now get a completely blank screen instead of an error message about there being no bootable device.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

I don't know linux myself, but I'm inclined to go over there and have a look anyway out of sheer neurosis. I should learn it, after all.

For what it may be worth, I've had good luck ordering hardware from Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/): they tend to have very good prices, and they ship fast. The only thing is that they're the online equivalent of a warehouse store: you have to know what you want before you go there, or you'll be overwhelmed. Or at least, I am.

Oh, hush. No one thinks of you as a delinquent but yourself.

Are you sure?

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Eh. I'm not terribly impressed. I've yet to manage to get it to do any of the things it promises.

Thanks for the link. But, you know, it occurs to me that I still have that disintregrated laptop somewhere, and it's quite possible that there's nothing wrong with its harddrive. Perhaps it'd be easier- or, well, cheaper at least- to just buy an external case and try to use that harddrive.

Are you sure?

Yes. Anyway, I'll beat up whoever says otherwise.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

Heh. You're right: disassembling the old machine is a perfect solution, or at least a perfect place to start. USB external cases are cheap, and as I know from doing it myself, it's not hard to install a drive into an external case. You'll just need to be sure you're getting the right case for the dimensions of the hard drive, but that's not likely to be much of an issue either: the drive will be labelled, and you should be able to look up the physical dimensions online. (Laptop drives are evidently always 2.5 inches, but their heights can vary, and it would be irritating to get everything together and then find your drive was, like, 4mm too tall for your case.)

And it would be so satisfying to be able to use that disintegrated computer for something.