With its iconic "Deep Field" photo, the Hubble Space Telescope captured an image that has captivated dreamers and scientists alike. By pointing its powerful lenses at a seemingly empty patch of sky in the constellation Fornax for an entire week, Hubble unveiled an astounding composite of nearly 10,000 galaxies billions of light years away – some only around 500 million years old - with shapes and sizes that reach back to early times in the history of the universe. This single image provided astronomers with invaluable insights into star formation and galaxy evolution while also sparking imaginations everywhere to explore beyond our planet. The "Deep Field" photo has become a symbol of our place in the universe and anyone who sees it is forever changed by its beauty and power.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Power from the prairie
It is one of those rare times when the North Dakota prairie is silent. All is quiet, except for the call of a bird and the yip of a coyote in the distance. In this part of the country, such stillness does not last long and soon the air begins to stir. A breeze begins to flow across the land, reaching the blades of the giant wind turbinesalert sentinels on the prairie quietly waiting for the wind to bring them to life.
The breeze reaches a gentle 3 mph and slowly begins rotating the wind turbine’s three giant white fiberglass blades, each 120 feet long and weighing 16,000 pounds. The breeze must then increase to 8 mph before the turbines can begin to produce electricity. At that point, the wind turbine only generates 25 kilowatts of electricityjust enough for a few homes. However, as the wind picks up more speed, the amount of power generated by the turbine increases rapidly. It is going to be another windy day on the Dakota prairie, and electricity generated from the wind begins to flow from the prairie to the cities and towns of the region.
Wind energy from the Great Plains has the potential to develop into a significant energy source for the United States, and wind energy projects are beginning to appear in areas that have seen little economic activity since the Depression of the 1930s.
North Dakota has often been called the “Saudi Arabia of Wind” because of the steady and consistent winds sweeping across the prairie. A study sponsored by the Department of Energy ranked North Dakota as the top U.S. state for its potential to produce wind energy. Until recently, California generated the most wind energy of any state due to its early and widespread development of wind projects; however, California’s total potential is far behind most of the Plains states, which contain good to excellent wind resources and promise to be a growing source of energy in years to come. Just recently, Texas surpassed California in wind generation and is continuing to add wind projects at a hurricane pace.
More…
Values? Who’s values?
Buddhism is as much a philosophy as it is a religion. As a philosophy, much emphasis is placed on ethics.
The first five precepts of Buddhism are:
1. Not to harm any living being.
2. Not to take anything that was not freely given.
3. Not to partake in excessive sexual pleasures and to remain monogamous.
4. To speak and think truthfully, kindly, and compassionately.
5. To shun all intoxicants.
A more detailed explantion of these five precepts can be found below.
1) To undertake the training to avoid taking the life of beings. This precept applies to all living beings not just humans. All beings have a right to their lives and that right should be respected.
2) To undertake the training to avoid taking things not given. This precept goes further than mere stealing. One should avoid taking anything unless one can be sure that is intended that it is for you.
3) To undertake the training to avoid sensual misconduct. This precept is often mistranslated or misinterpreted as relating only to sexual misconduct but it covers any overindulgence in any sensual pleasure such as gluttony as well as misconduct of a sexual nature.
4) To undertake the training to refrain from false speech. As well as avoiding lying and deceiving, this precept covers slander as well as speech which is not beneficial to the welfare of others.
5) To undertake the training to abstain from substances which cause intoxication and heedlessness. This precept is in a special category as it does not infer any intrinsic evil in, say, alcohol itself but indulgence in such a substance could be the cause of breaking the other four precepts.
Applying the 5 Precepts in our lives
Applying these principles in our daily lives can be difficult, but the rewards are numerous. We can cultivate inner peace and compassion for all beings by following these guidelines. We can also generate positive karma, which can result in more happiness and well-being for ourselves and those around us.
To begin applying the Five Precepts in our lives, we can examine our actions and intentions. We can consider whether our actions promote life and respect for all beings, or whether they cause harm or suffering. We can also practice mindfulness, which entails being present at the moment and observing our thoughts and actions objectively.
We can also cultivate virtues like generosity, kindness, and compassion to help us live by the Five Precepts. We can make the world a more peaceful and harmonious place by freely giving to others, speaking with kindness and truthfulness, and avoiding actions that cause harm or suffering.
Challenges in Applying the 5 Precepts in our lives
With the increasingly chaotic and materialistic society that we find ourselves living in today, it can be challenging to apply the five precepts of Buddhism to our daily lives. The five ethical precepts—abstaining from killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, and intoxicants—promote overall well-being and harmony, but may require us to forego certain habits or possessions that are deeply rooted in our culture.
Furthermore, balancing these teachings with our ambitions and responsibilities might be difficult in a world where everything is centered around our successes. Despite the challenges, however, adapting even some of these ancient traditions can bring us closer to inner peace and allow us to experience life on a deeper level.
Useful Links for Computer Technicians
I usually don’t link to other websites but there are a few sites out there that are really handy for computer technicians who are out in the field. Here are a few sites that I use.
Computer Manuals – This place has 5260+ manuals for various computer manufacturers, parts and peripherals. They have manuals for Printers, Laptops, Networking Equipment, Uninterruptible Power Supplies, Scanners, Motherboards, Audio adapters and more.
Computer Manufacturer Links – If you know the name of a computer manufacturer, this list has their web address. A handy site when you are trying to find drivers for a rare part.
Shields Up! Firewall Leak Test – This website/server probes your computer looking for any open ports and vulnerabilities then creates a report.
Kellys XP Tweaks – If there is a little nagging bug in Windows that you cant figure out or just want to disable something that annoys you, chances are there is a registry tweak for it here.
Doug Knox XP Tweaks and Fixes – Similar to Kellys XP Tweaks.
List of Open Source Software – A nicely ordered list for open source (free) software packages.
More...
Power Supply Tester
The other day I had a computer come in that appeared to have a dead motherboard. I took out their CPU and RAM and put it in my test PC. The whole system powered up and got into Windows XP with no problems so it seemed the RAM and CPU were fine. However, I was unsure whether their power supply was faulty and I didnt want to plug the PSU into my good test motherboard in case it damaged it. So I went to get my trusty multimeter to test the power supply and I couldnt find it anywhere; it seems I had lost it.
So, I bought a Power Supply Tester specifically designed to test computer power supplies and I am very happy with it.
Heres why:
Its much quicker to test a power supply with it than testing each connection with a multimeter. Just plug in the 20/24pin power connector, the 4 pin ATX power and a 4 pin molex or sata power if you want to and away you go. The voltages show up on the LCD screen and beeps if there is a problem such as too much voltage, too little or none at all.
More...
denniscanter 2.0
Welcome to Dennis Canter 2.0. I have converted this site from straight HTML to blog driven software. This website is dedicated to the memory of Carl Sagan. November 9th, 1934 - December 20th, 1996 “History is full of people who out of fear, or ignorance, or lust for power has destroyed knowledge of immeasurable value which truly belongs to us all. We must not let it happen again.” - Carl Sagan"
Carl Sagan was a celebrated scientist, author and academic who left behind a legacy of knowledge for the whole world. His words have served as an inspiration to many, including myself.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
What hardware do you keep in stock for repairs?
I was recently asked via email about how I handle stock as a self-employed computer technician. You want be able to carry enough stock to be able to do your job, but you don’t want to be holding onto too much because their value can decline so quickly. Here’s what I do:Buy one or two of the essentials. With the exception of motherboards which I only keep in my workshop, I carry each of the essentials when I go onsite and a copy in the workshop.
I consider the essentials to be:
Various RAM
One of the current generation, one of the last generation and some laptop ram. I carry plenty of RAM because I don’t worry about it losing value. The lifetime value of RAM tends to be shaped like the letter “J”. The value falls until it hits rock bottom but once the manufacturers stop making it the value goes up and people put them into older computer that could use a little speed boost. In fact, sometimes its more of a “U” shape where the value of the RAM goes back up and equals or even beats the price of the item when you bought it new.As for RAM brands, I tend to go for Kingston because of its build quality and lifetime warranty
Mid Range Hard Drives
A mid range hard drive tends to hold its value relatively well. You pay a premium to get the larger ones on the market, then they fall to mid range rapidly and then slowly fall into low range. If I don’t sell them for a few months I usually put them into a generic office machine that doesn’t need a lot of space or use them to replace hard drives in old PCs.
For hard drive brands, I used to be a Western Digital man but now I have switched to Seagate for my clients because of their 5 year warranty. Avoid Maxtor like the plague, I see these dieing all the time.
Middle Range Video Card
Do NOT buy high end cards unless you already have a buyer, after a month or two a high end video card is no longer high end . Besides, most home and business users have low to mid range cards and the high end users usually already know to fix their computers. I carry a AGP, PCI Express and a handful of old second had ones. The brand I like for video cards is ASUS or Gigabyte with an nVidia chipset.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
PC Repair toolkit
Having the right tools for the job is essential for a computer technician, and having them stored in an easily accessible place can be invaluable. In this article, we will look at what I like to keep in my CD wallet - from UBCD4Win and Ultimate Boot CD (DOS) to Offline NT Password & Registry Editor and DriverPacks.net CDs; these are the tools that I rely on when it comes to repairing computers.
Computer Technician Work Process
I've been fixing computers for many years, and I've come up with a procedure to make sure they're fixed as quickly and effectively as possible. Before starting work, this procedure entails asking the client what the problem is, looking over the computer, and creating a system restore point. After that, I make sure it's plugged in and turned on, among other simple fixes. Once I've identified and implemented the solution, I test it by attempting to duplicate the issue and restarting the computer. In this article we will discuss my experience with fixing computers.
I would like to share with you my (and many other technicians) process of working on a computer and dealing with a client. I have built up this process over many years after making many mistakes of my own and putting extra steps to make sure they don’t happen again. This is my process: Ask What the Problem Is when I first answer the phone, I will try and determine what the problem is as much as I can before I go onsite to make sure its something I can fix. However, what they say on the phone can often be wildly different to what the problem actually is. Once I arrive at the clients location, I ask what the problem is again and ask them a few extra questions to help pinpoint what the problem could be. Depending on the problem, I would ask something along the lines of: Did you install any new software or hardware recently? Was the computer making strange noises before this happened? Was there a power outage recently? Inspect the Computer if they leave the computer at your location, physically inspect it with them watching and look for any cracks, scuffs or any other sort of damage. If you find something, point it out to them and write it down on your work order. This will save you tons headaches down the track if they say you damaged the computer while it was in your possession, even though the damage was already there when you received it. Another important thing to do is try to power up the computer in front of them for two reasons: 1, So you can try and reproduce the problem with them. 2, To prove it does (or doesn’t) power up when it arrived. More...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)