Game of Computers

So it kind of goes back to Horizon Zero Dawn, which when I booted it up complained my graphics card was too small. After a lot of hesitation I went ahead with the upgrade.

The new card arrived roughly the same time I had a bit of a recovery from my cardiac woes and was brimming with energy. So I vacuumed out the gaming computer, put in the new card, upgraded the RAM, and finally got around to mounting the terabyte SSD that most of the gaming files are on.

And while the tools were out...

My main computer -- an older Macbook -- was running hot enough that even the external fan wasn't able to keep up. Popped the case meaning to blow out the dust, and maybe redo the thermal paste if it didn't look too hard.

Discovered the battery was swollen. So a couple days later, new battery, new optical drive, upgraded RAM, new thermal paste, and, yes, the vents and fan all cleaned up. And I can finally ditch the external fan.

And I was still going. Stayed after work to try to make progress on recording a cover of Game of Thrones. Now that my brain was sort of working again I quickly realized I had a harmony problem and to solve it what I needed was a keyboard.

Which I couldn't get to work on the rescued MacMini I had at work. But by this point I'd started cleaning out the closet and not only did I find my old G4 laptop, but a rescued iPad (same recycling bin as the MacMini) that I'd totally forgotten about.

Mostly because iPads are useless. There's no connectivity -- unless it is only a year old and can connect via iTunes, and even then moving something you didn't just buy from Apple is a total pain. It, like the phones, isn't designed to create content. It is designed to consume other people's content. Preferably content you pay Apple for.

It does do one thing, though. It will run a simple Keyboard ap from the ap store and that's enough for me to solve my harmony problems. Sigh. I'd finally rehearsed the lyre part to where I could perform it on tempo. But now I had to retune the strings and learn a different and more complex part.

I also discovered the main key to getting a smoother sound on the Gue was to tune it up to a higher pitch. That, and switch the extra-sticky bass rosin for some violin rosin.

So the laptop works, though. I mean the other one. I've now brought it home and considering the next computer adventure; yank Cubase off it and see if it will run Reaper, because then I can mix the way I'm used to mixing.

Weird. The Mini has a much faster chip -- dual-core Intel i5 I believe -- but due to the internal firmware it can't be taken any higher than OSX 7.5. That's a perfect dead spot between stuff I've owned in the past and have registered, and stuff I use now and can find downloads for. Basically; nothing runs.

And, yes. Reaper installed and registered. Anyone need an old MacMini?