Black Ice

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

Well yesterday I survived my most recent black ice driving incident for the first time in a long time whilst (love that word) getting on the highway at I-35 and 19th Street. Accelerating to highway speed down the on-ramp I lost the back end (4×4 vehicle in 4×2 mode) and at 40MPH was moving down the ramp sideways. Correcting for the spin I went back and forth from left to right about 5 or 6 times before centering and sliding/accelerating onto the highway just in time at full highway speed (60MPH). Further proof my Dad was a good driving instructor.

Thanks DAD!

Illustration of the event:

Aquinus | Mage of the Forsaken

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

I usually post pictures here of the various different avatars I’m using in the various games that I play from ships to toons to whatever they are classified as. I have been delinquent since I started playing World of Warcraft again in December 2009. Here is Aquinus. I thought it would be funny to name an undead magic user after a 12th century catholic priest known for his logical approach to theology.

Aquinus | Mage of the Forsaken


Audio Problems -Solved

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

Recently posted this on Intel’s community forums. It details a persistent computer problem I have been having since getting my motherboard back from service.

Like many on here I’ve seen people reporting audio issues with the DP45SG and the IDT audio drivers identified in the system as “IDT High Definition Audio CODEC”. I had these issues as well. After running for no more than 5 minutes with the 178 driver my system would begin to pause when any program tried to engage the audio system. This improved with the 182 driver but the problem persists. In the begining only a reboot would fix this. Soon I discovered the audiodg.exe process would be eating memory during these pauses and that it remained stable when everything was working fine. I discovered a post on MSDN from a Microsoft employee “Matthew van Eerde” that talked about leaky APO objects causing the audiodg process to hang and eat memory. The solution he provided was to:

” Open the Sound control panel and double-click each device in turn, both on the Playback tab and on the Recording tab.

Each device will open up in its own window – look for an Enhancements tab on each device window.

There should be a checkbox labeled “Disable all enhancements” or something like that – check this box on each device, even if it looks like none of the individual enhancements are turned on.

Now reboot.

If this solves the proble, it was a leaky APO. “

This has so far solved my problem. I would suggest those of you that experience issues with IDT Audio to give this a try.

Good Luck,

Andrew

Mac vs. PC

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

I love these little debates because ultimately you should use whatever you want use. There truely is no better computer operating system than the one that allows you to do whatever it is that you choose to do with a computer. That said these commercials Mac puts out are absolutely hilarious. I just saw one that suggested someone would be willing to spend $1000 on a new computer rather than upgrade the OS for less $100 on completely good computer but this one is the best…

The thought of company who has itself completed 10 versions of its own computer operating system and gone through 3 completely different hardware processor architectures to achieve its current existence insinuating superiority over a company that is only in the 7th version of its OS on the exact same hardware platform it started on is Laughing My Ass Off funny.

Way to go Apple. Point out the obvious to the intelligent amongst us.

Fire in the Mariott

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

Well the fire alarm went off this morning at @#$%^ AM (aka 5:45) It turns out that a sprinkler was tripped in the room above me which most likely means some douche was smoking in a non-smoking hotel. (It should be noted for all you sympathetic readers to the addicts plight that each room has a private balcony.) Its a good thing I don’t know who that is because today the clocks turned back an hour and I was really looking forward to the extra hour. After collecting the essentials I found the first staircase and made my way to the front of the building. I hear that some people didn’t even get out of bed. (the alarm went off for an hour and its #$%^&* loud). I know that people can get jaded to these kind of events but really people … ITS THE DAMN FIRE ALARM.

All I can remember thinking when I woke up was “spectacles, testicles , wallet and watch” which, if you know me,  is the phrase I say anytime I leave my house. It should be noted that all were in different parts of the room. It struck me as funny, later on, that it would be the first thing I thought of when a fire alarm goes off. I suppose its the years of my parents, teachers, bosses and other authority figures drilling into me that keeping a cool head is better than anything else in a potential emergency situation. Had I been in any real danger I would hope I can react the same way though I probably would have either tried to fight the fire (had it been near my room) or have left for breakfast after checking in with the hotel duty manager. Which I am going to do shortly after finishing this post.

One thing to note before the end is that no matter where you are in the world I think its always cold 6AM. Thankfully I left my coat in the trunk of the car. I must remember to put it back there.

Andrew

Peace

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

Last night I probably had one of the most peaceful moments of my life. I’m in Florida right now on business and my hotel backs up to the Gulf. I went out on to the beach and sat there listening to the surf and watching to waves as the sun set. My mind stop wandering and I felt relaxation I don’t think I’ve felt in years. I know now why people pursue life at the beach.

Fort Walton Beach, FL USA

Fort Walton Beach, FL USA

Red Sky at night...

Red Sky at night...

The Emerald Coast

The Emerald Coast

My feets in the sand...

My feets in the sand...

Andrew

Video Blog 2

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

Update: Looks like the new motherboard is DOA which is funny to me because my past experience with Intel motherboards has been very positive. Oh well … can’t win them all. Now to RMA the board and get a new one from ZipZoomFly. Also it looks to me like the problems with my other board may have actually been heat related and not a problem with the chip. Not sure how to solve it but I will elaborate later when I have time.

Nissan Service

Posted by Andrew Hrubik on

While I have to say that the One to One care center left a less than palatable taste in my mouth the service center at Bob Moore Nissan performed as expected and in a very reasonable amount of time as well. When the SES (Service Engine Soon) light came on last week I initially thought, “Oh crap!”. I was calm though knowing that I had not only the factory warranty but and extended warranty I purchased with some of the discount money I was offered when I bought thenissan logo small truck. I looked around the brochure about which warranty I bought and couldn’t find it. I did though find in my Nissan binder that One to One care card with the phone number to call if I had any problems. I called on a Saturday only to find out they are open M-F 8-5 MST. Wondering if the truck would make it through the weekend I took it on faith and called again on Monday. It was apparent at the beginning that I had reached an India based call center but the representative was well spoken and easy to understand. Unfortunately after talking with her for a few minutes it was apparent she had no idea about vehicles.

After confirming my information she asked for a description of my problem. I told her that I had a few:

1. The SES (Service Engine Soon) light was on.
2. A tire pressure indicator had lite up.
3. I had determined through trial and error that the right side roof rack bar was a little loose and vibrating.

After this short explanation of events she looked over my records for the closest dealer which happens to the one I purchased the truck from and told me that “… according to my records …” December 18th would be the “best” day for me to come in. I was silent for about 30 seconds thinking to myself:

Don’t insult the lady!
Don’t insult the lady!
Don’t insult the lady!
Don’t insult the lady!
You need something from the lady.
Don’t insult the lady!
Don’t insult the lady!

I politely responded that I would rather come in a little earlier to have the problems looked at before they got worse. She looked at her records again and suggested Friday, September 25th. Flabbergasted at the idea that this wasn’t her first option but considering it might be an opening that just appeared I ask for the time on Friday that I could come in. Her response was pricesless … “They are open from 7:00AM to 4:30PM. Anytime is fine!” Shocked and awed at the display of intelligence I just experienced I asked for 8:00AM.

Fast Forward to Friday …

I arrived at the service center around 8:00AM. I might have been a little late but within 5 minutes. The service representative greeted me with hearty welcome and took my information. He asked what I needed and then directed me toward the waiting area. About an hour later around 9:00AM I have my keys and an explanation that I had a bad tire pressure sensor, an update to the ECM programing was needed and they couldn’t “find” anything wrong with the Bob Moore logoroof rack but as I drove to work I have yet to hear the vibrating sound from the roof so we will see if they did something without telling me. The sound was very pronounced and if you’ve ridden with me in the truck I’m sure you have heard it. The lady working the counter indicated that they were having computer issues and would need to mail me a service packet regarding my vist which I indicated was acceptable and I was out the door costing me $0.

3 cheers for a factory warranty – Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

On a side note I decided while at the dealer that I would inquire about replacement paperwork detailing the extended warranty. Although no one was available to help till 8:45AM or so the lady at the information desk and the gentlemen that looked it up were able to provide me with the paperwork I requested. Overall I’m very satisfied with my visit and thankful that things were made to seem that easy.

– Andrew