2007 January » foyleman

Let’s build a computer

Jan 192007

I always build all of my computers. This way I can choose the exact parts I need and want without over paying for it. If you use a company like Dell (not that Dell is bad), you end up getting the specifications you want in a computer, but the parts are often unique to them. This means that upgrading later could turn into a hassle.

Since I have a friend who wants to know more about building a computer and I am considering building a new one, I figured I would walk through the process in this blog.

The Purpose:

The purpose of this computer is to allow me to play current PC games in all their glory. I also want to be able to compile mp3 files for the MODSonair show each week and later to render 3D animation using Lightwave or Maya. This means I need a fairly high-end computer that can handle heavy processing and graphics. However, the ‘current games’ stipulation adds a potential conflict.

Processor:

Currently, my favorite game is Battlefield 2142. It’s only been out for a few months making it a fairly new game. However, as with most new games, it cannot take advantage of multi-threading. This means that if I have a multi-core processor, the game will most likely only utilize one of the cores limiting my processing power.

A perfect example is a setup I currently have in my home. I have two computers in my office. One is my old computer which my wife uses containing an Intel P4 3.2Ghz processor. Great processor, but single threaded which makes it almost 2 years old. My current computer is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400. A dual core processor, but each core runs at 2.21 Ghz. When starting up Battlefield 2142 on each computer, the older computer running the 3.2Ghz is more than twice as fast at loading and playing the game. I was quite frustrated to find that out.

So, now I am setting out to put together a computer with multiple cores for processing those mp3 files and rendering that animation. But, I also want a computer that can play games that can only process on a single core and do it with ease.

Video:

My home setup has me working on four monitors. I like to spread my work out across multiple monitors. I find it really helps me be more productive because I don’t have to keep switching between windows. However, four monitors means I must use at least two video cards. Each video card will need to support two monitors, but this is quite common these days.

I could get away with running one great video card and one mediocre one, but I don’t want to compromise the video quality across all the monitors. This means my best solution would be using two identical video cards. The way to do this is with a system that can handle the Nvidia SLI or ATI Crossfire technology and I am partial to Nvidia (not worth getting into that story here).

Rest:

The rest of the parts that I choose don’t require a background story. I’ll just list them below with my explanation.

So, Let’s get started. Continue reading »

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HL2 Mods For Dummies Released

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Jan 172007

Today my second book, Half-Life 2 Mods For Dummies has been released. Even though it was my second book, it was still just about as difficult to write as the first. Perhaps even more difficult. There was so much more I wanted to put into the book but I was greatly limited to the number of pages I could publish. I ended up cutting out chapters that I really wanted to include.

I still have an urge to publish more works, however if I were to do that, it wouldn’t be in book form. I’ve been contemplating the idea of putting out video tutorials on DVD. I’ve done several videos in the past, but those have been limited to time and file size so that they are easily downloaded. The question is, “Can such a product sell?” There would be just as much work involved in making a DVD as there is in writing a book plus all the publishing costs would be out-of-pocket. I would need to recuperate that money somehow.

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Temporary Domain Mapping in Windows

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Jan 102007

Too many times have I forgotten where to find the file in my Windows XP system folders where I can specify domain mapping. With the following information, you don’t have to wait for a domain name to resolve to your server’s IP address. Instead, you can tell your Windows OS exactly which IP address to go to when you browse a specific domain name. It’s sort of like your own little DNS system.

NOTE: This only works on your computer. This doesn’t work for anyone else on the internet, only you. Also, you may want to remove these changes once your domain name has properly resolved.

Head over to this folder on your hard drive: C:WINDOWSsystem32driversetc
Open the file ‘hosts’ in a plain text editor for editing.
At the bottom of this page, enter your new entry. Let’s say you want to go to example.com which is located on 111.2.33.444 but when you type example.com, it goes to some other IP address. Enter the following new line of text:
111.2.33.444 example.com

NOTE: While a space in the middle will work, use a tab instead.
Save the file and browse to example.com. Your browser will now go to the specified IP address.

Another note for testing purposes: Before making this change, open a DOS window and ping the domain name. This is done by entering ‘ping example.com’ at the command prompt and pressing enter. You will see the IP address that is assigned to this domain name. Once the changes listed above are complete, ping the domain name again to confirm the changes were made.

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Google Calendar Not Too Flexible

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Jan 062007

I spent most of yesterday working on the code for the ‘Game Release Calendar‘ on MODSonline.com. Originally, this was a simple calendar system where you could input the data about any event and it would be displayed with details. You know.. .a basic calendar. However, the problem with such a beast is that game release dates are never a sure thing. They change and that can be a problem when dealing with all the games that are on the market.

I thought the solution would be to let someone else do the work. That someone else happened to be a few different people on Google Calendars who already update the game release dates. All I would have to do is tap into that data and display it on the site.

This is where the difficulty arose. The Google Calendar feed only outputs 25 calendar entries. Apparently, these are the most recently entered dates which may not be the 25 events closest to today’s date. They could be for next year or last year… depending on when the person entered or updated the calendar. This is no good. There are at least 5 games coming out this month and I could only see 2.

In the end, I was forced to simply put the calendar on the site straight from Google. At least then all of the dates are showing. I could have saved myself at least 3 hours. oh well.

*** UPDATE ***

I went back to google calendars and did some more searching. I found that if I could use the ical export feature, I could get most if not all of the calendar entries imported into my own calendar system for the MODSonline.com website. So that’s just what I did. In the end, it worked out. There was more coding involved in this method, but the results are what matter. Now, every night while I sleep, the calendar automatically updates for me. cool.

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