Computer Genius Blog :: aka “TheGarage”

What’s the big deal with the new X-Box 360? Is the technology improvement such a leap that even those who are merely occasional game players must have one as soon as possible else cease to exist? Or is it that the time of year is that of giving and many folks would like to give one of the technological marvels to a loved one?

I read an article in the paper on Saturday that a Circuit City in an upscale area of Houston had quickly sold out of their initial shipment of twenty systems. First I thought that must be a misprint. Only twenty new X-Box 360 systems to a single store. The manager of the store was noncommittal but did say she was expecting at least one more shipment before Christmas–which will likely be the real shipment of 300 systems arriving a week or two, or three late.

On the other hand, there are plenty of accessories available which are reportedly being snapped up. Probably on fears that the accessories will soon be sold out as well.

First and foremost my comment is that it is a monumental blunder not to have these gizmos readily available on the shelf for the Christmas buying season. However, having said that…

Microsoft has not quashed its competition over years by accident. To me it seems that some marketing geniuses in Redmond turned a failure to meet production quotas into a mastermind marketing campaign to lock in consumers to the X-Box 360 even when there are no X-Box 360 systems actually available.

First, spread the available systems thinly in the upscale urban markets where they will be missed the most. Be sure the press knows there is a limited supply of systems and is on hand for the Black Friday onslaught of overwrought computer gamers.

Second, be sure to have plenty of X-Box accessories on hand for those who are looking to buy the X-Box system as a Christmas gift for someone else.

Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

After someone has invested a hundred or so dollars in games, rumble packs, memory sticks, or whatever comes on an X-Box 360, they will be very unlikely to buy a competing product even if they have to wait until the first week of January to get the actual system.

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Earlier this year Microsoft hired Ray Ozzie, the inventor of Lotus Notes, and now they have hired Burton Smith, the head scientist at super-computer maker Cray. I wonder what evil trickery Gates is up to now.

Ozzie was named Chief Technology Officer, but there has been no word yet on what Burton Smith’s duties will be. Color me intrigued. I would expect something very powerful and very innovative.

Read this Forbes article for a glimpse at what Ozzie has in mind for Microsft and the obstacles he faces to achieve his goals.

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Some of you may remember from last year, about this same time actually, that I started having some problems with my workstation. The intermittent Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) type problems. The dreaded WinXP “Stop” messages.

This time it has been the usual Stop 8e along with a Stop 50. When the crashes first began, there was a reference to the video driver in the error message. Experience from my previous adventure led me to know that the initial indicator is most likely the problem. Subsequent crashes may have any number of related “Stop” messages and pointers to win32k.sys and other system drivers. Doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Since I noticed my video adapter had been acting up while editing some of my photos, I was quite certain the adapter was having a near-death experience. Over the course of about 24 hours, it degraded enough to where the computer would not even boot.

I replaced the video card with a $50 Radeon and so far so good.

Whenever I get these BSoD errors, I always like to do a quick Google search to see if there is a quick answer. There never is but it is always fun. The tidal wave of BS that is out there in the guise of “free technical support” such as is available on tech sites is comical verging on ridiculous. The task of weeding through the BS and finding the pertinent information can be daunting for even a seasoned pro.

Here is one of the best I have ever seen that is both hilarious and indicative of the challenge Microsoft faces going in to the next five to ten years. A guy is responding to the desperate pleas for help from a XP user experiencing random BSoD Stop messages:

Random crashes like this sounds to be cpu related…whether bad cpu or cpu is overheating. Are you using thermal grease between the heatsink and the cpu? Try not to use the thermal pads, they’re not good at transferring heat.

The funniest thing is that the people needing the help are usually those who have went out to help “a friend” or “their uncle” sort out their WinXP problems. Never it is evident from the posts that the desperate person is actually billing someone for a technical support call. Now that the “support specialist” has consulted the poor WinXP user to buy a completely new computer one component at a time and the computer still crashes, they become crazy desperate. You can just tell from the sound in their voice as they make their desperate pleas for help.

Here are a few rules of thumb for the BSoD Stop errors in WinXP:

1. If the crashes started suddenly for no apparent reason and nothing has been changed on the PC, it is quite likely going to be a RAM memory failure of some sort. The failure may be the main RAM or video RAM or even cache. Look for any clues that might point to the video card.

2. If there has been a recent change to the PC, whether new software or new hardware was added, the crashes will usually be caused by a configuration problem, especially bad/outdated drivers.

3. The power supply. A weak P/S can be the cause of erratic behavior in every component on a system. If successive error messages seem to indicate everything is screwed up, then the P/S is probably weak and subsystems are not getting optimal levels of current.

All of these culprits can be tested without buying a single new part. All the other suggested measures regarding heat, hard drive partitions, swap files, front side bus (FSB) speed, over-clocking, and thermal grease are just plain idiotic in 99.9% of the cases. They are desperate measures taken by desperate people. I know, I’ve been there before.

What is sad is that people are continually falling in to the trap of replacing an entire system because it is too expensive to get theirs fixed. Computers are too cheap to spend several hundred dollars getting one fixed. Even sadder is that is shouldn’t have to be that way.

While the WinXP BSoD crashes can be mysterious and difficult to pin down, they are usually not that big a deal to correct. It just cost me $50 for a new video card.

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This is another funny from last night that was definitely Seinfeldian in nature. When we go out to eat or dancin’ we take The Wife’s truck because the surburby is a POS. It’s still reliable, but still a POS. She is almost ten, what do you expect.

So anyway The Wife has a pickle on her key chain. In contrast, I have a mini-flashlight on mine, super thin and thumbsize with a bright-ass light good for small situations or signaling. All beside the point.

The last several times I’ve used her truck I’ve taken the pickle off when I leave and then put it back on upon return of the truck. Last night before we left, I took the pickle off and left it on the kitchen counter. As we were walking out the door she notices the pickle and says, “Aw, you don’t like the pickle.”

“I don’t mind the pickle, I just don’t want to have to carry the pickle around in my pocket all night,” I explain.

“Yeah, right.”

“Really, it’s not about the pickle. I love the pickle. It’s the pocket bulk. I don’t like the pocket bulk.”

“Don’t lie, you hate the pickle.”

I try to re-assert, matter-of-factly, “Its not about the pickle. It’s about pocket bulk,”

“Liar…. Dont hate.”

I give up.

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