http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Strife89&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Strife89 en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:43:55 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/28760854/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/28760854/ Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:32:59 PST

My laptop's been acting funky lately, and I can't quite pinpoint the problem. After doing some research on the hardware, it seems that there's a flaw in the motherboard that causes issues with resuming from standby, especially in Linux (or rather, an untweaked installation of Ubuntu). Vista's been the real wallbanger, though. It's been behaving absurdly sluggishly, and literally takes a full minute to resume from Standby ("Sleep" as it's called in Vista). Two doses of CCleaner chopped the number from 60 seconds to 5 - by clearing up 4 GB of temporary files.

But Vista continues to aggravate me. The two most obvious options really aren't options, at least for me:

1) Get and upgrade to Windows 7.

2) Dump Windows entirely and use Linux.

I would use either solution if I could, but for (1), I don't have the cash, and my uncle still has a watchful, scorning eye on my bank account, which I really can't afford to spend on anything that's not absolutely necessary for school.

For (2), it's a tempting thought, as Ubuntu (and likely other distros) works very well overall on my laptop, with the exception of that Suspend issue. However, I have a number of applications that I either need or strongly like that do not work in Wine, and I would rather not use a virtual machine to run a copy of XP. In addition, the Linux driver for my graphics chipset leaves much to be desired. I applaud the community's work on it, but it just doesn't perform adequately for some games that I like to play; not even Armagentron Advanced.

At this moment, I have finished backing up all my critical files and application settings, and made a list of installed programs, service packs, and patches, that I need to gather, and am now wiping my hard drive with the provided recovery disk. Pissed though I am that companies never give you a normal OS disk anymore (at least, from what I've seen), at least restoring to a disk image will resemble some degree of simplicity. As a bonus, I no longer have to do the partition dance. Having to reboot just to access something on the Linux partition was indeed annoying. (I am going to use a VM for Ubuntu on my laptop now.)

I'm going to be more cautious with what I install this time around - getting used to a new OS and a new architecture (x64) took me a while, but I think I've got my selections down pat.

Wish me luck. Restoring my data and downloading/installing all my essential programs and updates is going to take a while, but at least Vista will be spiffy again.

________________________________________ ________________

Clubs:




Webcam Image by *Sap-Green.

Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/27897720/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/27897720/ Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:44:11 PDT I suck at it. So there won't be any more from me. Ever.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/27866609/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/27866609/ Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:34:54 PDT Read this.......

My Intro to Psychology professor assigned it for a piece of homework, so odds are the results are true.

------------------------

In other news, I have a lot on my mind, and very little I can bring myself to talk about.
________________________________________ ________________

Clubs:




Webcam Image by =Sap-Green.

Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/27380340/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/27380340/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:57:48 PDT

________________________________________ ________________

>---------<
divided for now ......

Clubs:




Webcam Image by *Sap-Green.

Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/26577971/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/26577971/ Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:38:26 PDT
Here's the link. It's not focused on Gardevoir like my previous video did; it now focuses on the endings of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. THERE ARE SPOILERS!!!!!!

With that said, please take a little time to watch it. If you like it, and you have a YouTube account, please comment as well. It won't take long.

---Strife89

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>---------<
divided for now ......

Clubs:




Webcam Image by *Sap-Green.

Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/26439462/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/26439462/ Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:45:23 PDT

Actually, we've had it for three (or maybe four? Five?) days now, and I just wanted to make sure it was stable. The technician said that he didn't think that it was possible to get DSL "out here" where we live, so he was kinda surprised. He sure was friendly, though, and went the extra mile to help when I tried to set up our wireless router, which I had bought beforehand. He needs a raise.

The connection was promised to be 1.5 MBps, but the most I've actually gotten is about 120 KBps. Still, I think I'm lucky we have a connection at all.

I start my Sophomore year at the college on August 18th, so we got the connection just in time; I'll need it to check what books I need, manage online classes, etc. In fact, that's the main reason my grandmother agreed to getting DSL; other activities are just gravy.


Anyway, I haven't been drawing much lately, which is just as well, because my scanner is still at my uncle Billy's house. I could take photographs, but the quality would suck because of lighting and angle issues that I can never seem to avoid.

One last thing: does anyone else have a DS Pokemon game? I'm itching for a battle with a fellow DevART member. Drop me your friend code and a meeting time if interested. (My friend code is on my Trainer Card deviation: read the comment, as the Friend Code on the card itself is now gone.

Cheers!
---Strife89

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Clubs:


Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/25512629/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/25512629/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:43:23 PDT
Now, the (mostly) good news: I'm back in Cochran, now living with my grandmother. All of my electronics (except my laptop) are back in my possession, and I finally have a chance to see my girlfriend again! I just hope she's willing to see me after all the grief I've put her through.....

My current plans include applying for a job at a local Wendy's (I hear the owner prefers to hire people who attend church) and to reregister at Middle Georgia College for another term. In the meantime, I'm helping my grandmother manage the house and such, and hopefully I can make enough money to pay for a DSL connection at her place (currently she has no Internet access at all).

Odds are I'll be offline for a while, but things don't feel as bleak as they did in my last journal entry. Best wishes to all of you.

---Strife89

________________________________________________________



Clubs:


Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/25106015/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/25106015/ Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:59:53 PDT
My uncle gave me a one-day period on their computer, which is how I'm typing this journal.

Please wish me well. This uncle pushes me to my limits, both physically and mentally.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/24790063/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/24790063/ Sat, 16 May 2009 15:59:26 PDT
As I write this, I have yet to beat the first gym leader, but I have a friend code. It's 0259 7174 1554.

I have a heck of a task in front of me as well: I promised a Pearl owner that I'd help them complete their Pokédex! That means that I need your help! If you have any Pokémon she needs and you can get your DS online, let me know!

I'll post the complete list later.

________________________________________________________

Clubs:


Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/24092182/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/24092182/ Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:31:51 PDT
Anyway, if you watch me, you probably noticed that I haven't been active for a while. I'm trying to avoid succumbing to the wonders of the Internet in an effort to concentrate on my schoolwork. Due to that, you probably won't hear from me for a while. Just know that I haven't abandoned the site or anything.

I do have some photos (and a sketch or two) that I'd like to post soon, but after that, odds are you won't hear much from me until June. Somehow I doubt anyone here will miss me, but oh well.

Also, I recently went through and cleaned up my favorites a little bit. If I removed something of yours, please don't take offense. I simply don't like an overgrown favorites gallery.

Did I mention I hate my springtime allergies?

________________________________________________________

Clubs:


Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22490474/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22490474/ Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:48:49 PST

Please comment, either here or on YouTube.

click to watch -->> [link] <<-- click to watch

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Clubs:



A few who I watch:


Member of:
Embrace Gardevoir Forums
Brighthand PDA Forums
Rockbox Technical Forums

Listen to my work-in-progress remix of "Scorching Switches".

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22472324/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22472324/ Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:15:25 PST

________________________________________________________

Clubs:



A few who I watch:


]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22183551/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22183551/ Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:15:42 PST



P.S. I got a new laptop!!!!!!!



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Clubs:



A few who I watch:


]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22027609/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/22027609/ Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:42:09 PST please) is almost here, and I've got gift anxiety creeping back in. What am I going to find when that morning comes? I guess only time will tell, but...

Well, really early in the month I saw a plastic "grocery"bag in my aunt and uncle's room while I was setting up some electric candles. Without even trying, I could see that inside the bag were two boxes with Toshiba brand laptops inside, and one laptop case.

Conflict ensued in my head. If any of you remember, I lost my laptop not terribly long ago. (I've now narrowed it down to a dead CMOS battery, but I can't find the darned thing to replace it. I bet it's under a panel with Torx screws, but I have no means of opening it - the screws have bumps in the middle, so I can't use a flathead.)

So, anyway, I started wondering if maybe one of those laptops was for me, and the other for my 18-year-old cousin, who graduates from high school this coming May.

But then I thought, "If one of these is for me, why would it be sitting out like this? They've never been this bad about hiding gifts. Ever."


And suppose it is for me. I still want to revive my old one. I'll probably give it to my church for their new projection system if I can.

The laptop has sentimental value. I can't just ignore it. It was given to me this year, on what would have been my mom's birthday.....


________________________________________________________

Clubs:



A few who I watch:


]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/21529469/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/21529469/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:36:21 PST
I haven't dropped my other works, but it's so tough to juggle them actively, and I've been wanting to try something new.


________________________________________________________

Clubs:



A few who I watch:


]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/21403791/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/21403791/ Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:43:10 PST
I do not wish to say more. At least for now.






________________________________________________________

Clubs:



A few who I watch:


]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/21197330/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/21197330/ Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:51:02 PDT EDITED AT BOTTOM

Stuff like this makes me wonder why I even bother trying.

On about October 18 I got to thinking about my PC's age. With a little guidance from the good folks at #rockbox-community, I ran a S.M.A.R.T. health scan on my hard drive. The results were not pretty - my 60 GB drive was failing and would probably not last for more than a couple of months. Some of you may remember some previous journals of mine on data loss; and I already had to see my 20 GB drive die before I ever joined Deviant Art (some Brighthand members might remember that). In any case, I wasn't exactly keen to watch my files vanish to another Click of Death.

I mentioned the situation to my uncle, who in turn had me ask his son: I wanted to salvage the other hard drive from their old computer. My uncle's son hardly even used the machine, so in minutes the PC was in my room.

I had an hour to spare, so I popped a Live CD (with Ubuntu 8.04.1) into the CD drive and booted to it. I checked out some of the Desktop Effects, which did not work on my machine due to a poor graphics card. Simple as they were, the Desktop Effects wowed me. I resolved to abandon my old case (a Gateway), save three pieces of hardware, and simply use this one (an ABS). I would keep my current HDD and move my stuff to the ABS's HDD while it was still working.

October 25 was moving day. I spent nearly two hours figuring out the ABS case and moving my "keeper" hardware. I cleaned up my cables a little, hooked it up and booted to Windows XP (my Gateway drive had ME and Ubuntu). I defragged the hard drive, ran Scandisk (had to reboot), defragged again, and booted the Live CD.

Ubuntu labeled the HDD as a 137.1 GB device. The drive was 160 GB; the BIOS was outdated. I didn't care - 137 GB is a heck of a lot more than 60! I started the insallation, which involved making an ext3 partition and shrinking the Windows one. I gave Ubuntu about 60 GB - on the Gateway I'd only given it 15.

I heard a loud, ominous clicking noise mid-partition. I let it finish that but aborted installation, certian the drive had suffered a head crash. I tried a reboot, and was surprised when Windows XP booted properly. A defrag and a Scandisk came up clean, and drive C was now 87 GB. I checked the drive with a tool on the Ultimate Boot CD, and all the partitions had been made - and they looked fine. I tried installing Ubuntu again, and this time I was met with success. I proceeded to set up a few programs before calling it a night. The 60 GB hard drive was mounted inside the case but not hooked up.

October 27 was when it all came crashing down. I started to turn on my laptop an hour before my first class to check my e-mail. It did not start. No fan, no whirrs - nothing. The power LED came on and that was IT. I unplugged and retried. Nothing. Moved the cord. Nothing. Did it again. This time it started. I picked it up to sit on the couch... It froze. No activity - the LCD stayed on and nothing more. I gave up and put my laptop away, and simply used a library PC.

I tried four times later and got it to start, but moving the power cord even slightly caused it to freeze. I set my lappy aside when I got home, where I fired up my desktop and checked up on things.

Not long into my session, I noticed that none of my files were actually being written. A look at my home folder in Nautilus revealed that the entire drive had been marked as read only, and external media was getting similar treatment - I couldn't mound a memory card or write to my PNY flash drive. I had to drop to the console just to reboot, losing all my recent work in the process.

The drive failed Linux's boot-time test. I scanned it with fdsk and rebooted. I made it to the login screen, but not the graphical version. I rebooted, and tried Windows.

To my surprise, Windows started okay, but Explorer.exe (you know, the file browser) crashed on me with memory errors as I logged off. It's only a matter of time...

The 60 GB hard drive still isn't hooked back up, but I know it's going to die shortly anyway....

I have a few Live CDs I can boot from including Knoppix and DSL (and of course Ubuntu), but starting from scratch daily is nothing I look forward to, plus I'm relying on only one medium for data storage (my flash drive), which is as good as a death sentence for my work if I don't get another drive for backups. And if my CDs wear out (i.e., get scratched), then what?

Rubbing all of this in is that the earliest I'll even have a shot at ANY new hardware is Christmas. And right now, I'm giving myself a 90% chance that it WON'T be a new machine.

So it looks like I can win computer battles for peers, but I've lost at my own war.

EDIT: Well, funny thing..... I turned on my desktop just minutes ago and it started right up to Ubuntu as I fumbled wit... ]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20863540/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20863540/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:15:56 PDT

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20682379/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20682379/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:47:52 PDT Huzzah! I'm 19! ), the temperature was ... 70-ish, I think. Yesterday it was in the 50s for most of the morning. Not fun when you're trecking across a college campus or waiting for a class.

Speaking of which, it's lonely there for me. I kinda feel like I was dragged out of high school and put into a place where I don't know anyone. All of my professors are good and all; I just can't seem to make any friends.

What's making me tear my hair out, though, is the fact that I've been coming up with several ideas for my fics and I haven't had the willpower to write them down. I don't know why.... It used to be that I would write every other idea that came to me, when I first started "Fallen".


On the upshot, I finally have a cell phone! It's pretty nice; the model is Samsung's Alias. Lately I've been using WinFF to help put videos on it. I can't text yet (my folks might enable it later; they're paying for the line), but I don't mind much. Only thing is that I don't really have anyone to talk to.

I kinda wish I was getting more comments on my stuff, but you reap what you sow.

Anyway, you guys have a good one!
________________________________________________________

Clubs:



You're being watched!

Many more are being watched. Many more). I just need to look back over the list. >_<

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20500398/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20500398/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:05:16 PDT
Speaking of, there are three half-written stories/fan-fics in there, and no, I have not quit on any of them. Classes are taking up more out of me than I had expected, and as a result my personal works have taken a back seat to everything else.

As a side note, I turn 19 in eight days.

__________________________________________________________



Clubs:



You're being watched!

Many more are being watched. Many more). I just need to look back over the list. >_<

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20164236/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/20164236/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:53:25 PDT

Oh, and I have 63 messages and 178 deviations to look at.

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Clubs:



You're being watched!

Many more are being watched. Many more). I just need to look back over the list. >_<

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19861100/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19861100/ Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:18:47 PDT
Sorry, guys.

__________________________________________________________


Clubs:


Friends:
[Give me time to assemble the list. ]

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19642592/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19642592/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:19:57 PDT
For me, college doesn't start until August 19, so I have a little more free time, but once it gets started I expect to have my hands full. So after mid-August, I'll likely be online on the weekends, and not much else.

For me, it's been an amazing first summer at dA, and I'm glad I joined this fabulous community. I say we make a toast to the many wonderful artists, and to the many artistic years that are to come.


Oh, by the way, I recently organized my favorites gallery. So either click on "Everything" near the top or click on the categories to see all of my favorites.
__________________________________________________________

Clubs:


Friends:
[Give me time to assemble the list. ]

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19559274/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19559274/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:57:15 PDT
Please, guys, if it's the latter, all I ask is that you spend a few seconds and play critic with some of my stuff. I want to improve, but I don't know how unless I get some feedback, okay?

___________________________________________________


Clubs:


Friends:
[Give me time to assemble the list. ]

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19428637/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19428637/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:19:09 PDT

Cheers, guys.

---Strife89

P.S. Here's a [link]

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19384987/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19384987/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:27:44 PDT ). Hopefully I'll update it soon.

In other news, I'm loving the new interface for the website!

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19215353/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19215353/ Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:25:49 PDT

New photos should be in soon. I got a few shots of the fireworks in Warner Robins, GA, so when I find time I'll sort the fabulous from the crapulous.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19079756/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/19079756/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:04:52 PDT ), which is half of why our youth group is going. (Most concerts start at around 6:00 we usually arrive at 1:00.)

TheEmptyCanvas (I'd say your real name, but your profile suggests you'd prefer anonymity ), hopefully we can get you to go another time (I have no doubt that there will be PLENTY of those ). Biohazard XXVII, I plan on taking LOTS of photos, so hopefully you'll have some new favorites to enjoy.

Hope you guys enjoy your weekend!


----Strife89 (Michael)

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18946071/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18946071/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:24:05 PDT
Anyway, I told him just to power down and try booting up the OS fresh. This was the first time I'd ever seen any errors under the Linux OS since I installed it in September 2007. (Let's see Windows do that. )

Anyway, he turned off the thing (with the power button) and turned it back on. I heard the same beep, so I hit [TAB] to show the BIOS boot messages (instead of a big Gateway logo; the machine was made in 1999). Instantly my gut churned. The Maxtor HDD was not listed in the boot hardware (I've seen this list before, so I know what I should see), and the message "System Configuration Data updated" appeared after a few seconds. Then, a familiar, yet scary message:

Operating system not found.

My heart sank, in a sense. I turned off the machine and prayed that it was just running hot (we've had heat issues before; and the PC has already seen one dead hard drive). I had no recent backups, so if the drive died, my data was toast. (You'd think I'd have learned after what I wrote in my June 16 journal. >_< )

The next morning (which was actually the day I wrote the journal "Sad Stats"), I made preperations, (such as dumping my full flash drives' data to a safe place, and putting a fan near the open case) then booted the PC and began to make my fastest backups ever. Amazingly, I encountered no trouble during the whole thing - now, at the end of the week, the hard drive seems fine.

Lesson learned.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18911034/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18911034/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:11:27 PDT ______________________________________________________

...[Strife89] watches 10 people, while 2 people watch him.

Overall, his [28] deviations received 14 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 11 times, while he commented 153 times ... since he joined DA. This means that he gave 109 comments for every 10 that he received.

His deviation with the most comments is Self with 4 comments, while his most favourited one is Sunset 2, with 5 favourites. His most viewed deviation is Wondering What's Inside with 31 views [yet it has no comments!]

..........

Comments per deviation: 0.5
Favourites per deviation: 0.39
Views per deviation: 11.1
Comments per day: 0.07
Favourites per day: 0.05
Views per day: 1.61
Pageviews per day: 1.74
______________________________________________________

Somehow it's like I'm being ignored. It depresses me. PLEASE, people..... If you're reading this, leave comments, even if they're negative. I'd much rather be insulted than ignored.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18869546/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18869546/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:09:31 PDT
While the card was out, I looked at an app or two. All seemed fine. I popped in the card and fired up UniCMD. The app's twin windows displayed Card0 - the Palm's internal memory. So far, so good. I switched to Card1 - and gibberish file names filled the list. For example:

"..grxfal;" 843,267 KB

I'm not sure if it would've been fine if I hadn't pulled out the card, or if it didn't matter. My best explanation is that the file system header got corrupted. >_<

I popped the card into my old card reader, and THAT into my laptop this morning (my laptop runs Windows XP Home). I fired up Scandisk to check the filesystem. No difference. I ran it again. This time it took longer, but when it was finished, I saw mostly the same gibberish files (the near-gigabyte files were no longer listed). Checking the drive's free space revealed that there was only 13MB (out of 982MB) of unused storage. Yet all the files shown in Windows Explorer totaled 27MB.

I concluded that the file system was corrupted beyond repair. (I only recently thought to try recovery with my Linux machine. >_< ) I formatted the drive (as FAT16) and began work to fill it up again from my ... six month old backup. >_< I thought about file recovery programs (and the fact that my data itself might be badly corrupted), but I feared it would be too much trouble.

The moral: ALWAYS have a RECENT backup of EVERYTHING you keep on digital storage.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18744544/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18744544/ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:38:58 PDT
(Scroll down to read)
























They say that all of Africa hates Steiner of Alexandria. Mike certainly does. Steiner, the king of Alexandria, is responsible for the death of Mike's family, and the destruction of his village. For seven years he has wandered around Alexandria, struggling to survive, trying to cope with the loss....

Until now. He becomes careless one morning, and finds himself a slave. As he works, he learns of the vast differences of the people that live in the castle, and eventually discovers a girl who feels as oppressed as he does: Lily. Together (with the help of a rebellious army leader, Slate), they escape Alexandria, promising their return to free the other slaves. They head west for Midila.

Along the way, they run across a group of traveling traders who gladly aid them in their travels, without any payment. Yet they are still "paid" when Mike and Lily fend off a gang of thieves - ruffians, actually, who attack with flailing swords. After the celebration, however, Mike and Lily reminisce over their past. Lily questions why Mike does what he does - fight bravely to help others even though noone really helps HIM. He's not sure, and asks her the same thing. Ditto.

They press on to Midila, where they search for "recruits" to aid them in their return to Alexandria (Sayid, the leader of the travelers, has already offered and been accepted). After Mike leaves an impression of his sword skills in a guild, he gains respect from the town. Eventually, they meet Luke, a bearded man who talks of fighting in his old days.
The group stays with him for a while. Lily somehow recalls seeing him somewhere, but can't remember. She and Mike sit beside each other for a while two nights later. Mike talks about how he felt he was always such a failure until he met Lily. They both talk about how they are all that's left of their home - and their old way of life. Lily wonders if they should really go back - what if more people died? Mike mentions that, it's what their parents would've wanted, "right?" Lily agrees; Mike was being raised as a fighter as a child. Ultimately, a group of four travels to Alexandria the very next morning.

They arrive at night, where they meet up with Slate. He hatches an impromptu plan to get the group inside. However, Steiner catches on, and unleashes the entire army after the group. Luke calls Slate a traitor and knocks him down, then takes off down the castle hall. The group fights through the mob and plows through the castle to arrive in Steiner's room. There is a long argument between Steiner and Luke, but when Lily is brought up and insulted, she yells "Shut up, Dad!" A fight concedes... and Luke is caught under the sword. Steiner threatens to kill Luke if they move. Mike makes a daring leap, but Steiner throws him aside and drops the sword on Luke's neck. He warns the group that if he ever sees them again, he'll kill them all; then he tells them to get out.

The group come across the remains of Cheryl (Mike and Lily's village). Mike mumbles about how he really is a failure - when he needed to succeed the most. Lily and Sayid don't blame him, saying that it's "not your fault". Slate walks up, and Lily gives him a few good slaps for Luke. After an argument, Sayid stumbles across something in the ruins - the sword of Mike's father. Mike takes it as encouragement to "try one more time". The group storms the castle and takes on Steiner, and they knock him unconscious. But when Mike is given "the honor to kill him," he finds that he can't - killing him would be following in his footsteps, so to speak. Instead, they throw him into a cell, and Lily is crowned queen.

Mike takes to task the rebuilding of Cheryl, which is widely supported by all of Alexandria. Mike still thinks about how "it'll never be the same, though." After some reluctance, however, he confesses what he has held in the back of his mind until now - his love of Lily. The final scene merges from their wedding to a dream of his mother and father expressing their own love to him - how proud of him they are, and how they "await him." Mike says that he knows he will see them again someday - with Lily beside him.

-Fin

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18668054/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18668054/ Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:42:18 PDT Though it is a script, I will make my best attempt to present it as a novel - a work of standard prose - so I will probably end "chapters" with cliffhangers. I'll go ahead and say that by doing so I am deliberately trying to hold your attention. Please bear with me.

Oh, one more thing: spread the word if you like it!

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18475097/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18475097/ Sat, 24 May 2008 07:22:39 PDT
OH YEAH! Me is HAPPY!!

I'll probably do a self portrait for fun.


There is one downside to this, though. You know who you are: I'm gonna miss you.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18341109/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18341109/ Thu, 15 May 2008 18:04:30 PDT
What the heck is up with DeviantArt and Firefox (my choice web browser)? I can only view the first page of anyone's (including my own) Galley and Favorites page; trying to view ANY other page results in a lot of the infamous boxes that represent an unloaded image. Worse, there's no link or name to hint me about the picture. (The loading bar has filled and is replaced with "Done" at this point.) Using Reload helps none, but I can go back to page one. I tried to go view the site in Internet Explorer (on a borrowed laptop) but IE crashed. Go figure. :rolleyes:

I can't view a few other pages, such as gallery stats. An empty bar appears, nothing more.

Now, I used to be able to view these pages in Firefox. I haven't updated recently, and this affects both my laptop's installation of it AND my portable copy on my flash drive (computer doesn't matter). I'm not sure what to do.


On a side note, last Sunday a partial upgrade from Ubuntu (my desktop's OS) 7.10 to 8.04 went haywire, and my graphics and wireless drivers were apparently ruined. I copied my personal data to the Windows ME partition and popped in the 8.04 Live CD (which I thankfully downloaded and burned before making the over-the-network update).
My graphics card was once again recognized (but hardware acceleration is shabby once again) and I THOUGHT my wireless card was working and I had simply entered the key wrong. BIG MISTAKE. Though my wireless card is definitely seeing the network, it REFUSES to connect, and I don't have a clue why. I spent hours in the community docs trying various things on the terminal, to no avail. I nearly memorized the encryption key for the network (my uncle refuses to remove the encryption, not even for a minute).
He finally told me to quit worrying about it until school's out, but of course my brain refuses to forget it, and it's driving me nuts. Sure, I can use my laptop, but....

Anyway, it's impossible to concentrate on my school work or the tennis team slideshow anyways, because I want to check in here and on Rockbox (www.rockbox.org), and I recently found a bunch of good Cave Story mods (including Boss Rush; guess what that one's about ) that I really want to play. If you don't know what Cave Story is, look at my signature for a link to a fan site where you can download the game. If you DO know about it AND have beat it, most of the mods I found are here ([link]). (You might need to copy some of the mods over the original Cave Story files, so BACK UP!!!!!!!!!)

Oh yeah, and I shared Armagetron Advanced ([link]) with a few people today. Great game. I had a blast hosting a LAN game for a half hour.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18213079/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/18213079/ Wed, 07 May 2008 14:32:49 PDT ) behind.

Anyways, I have made next to zero progress on my story (it's on page 55), and I haven't had the chance to take any good photos. I made a couple of sketches, but they're pretty lame... I might submit them. I've been thinking about asking my girlfriend if I can post her art, it's beautiful.

Ah, well. Back to work.

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/17623459/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/17623459/ Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:53:42 PDT
Oddly enough, I DO like Mudkip (it was the Pokemon I "became" in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team). However, I'd like to know who the heck hijacked my page - or how this "glitch" managed to plant the avatar all over the place.

Anyone have an explanation?

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/17455194/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/17455194/ Sat, 22 Mar 2008 08:43:26 PDT ) over the thing. Topping that is some yard work before me, and a church egg hunt that I volunteered to help with.

Busy, busy, busy, and yet I sit here typing for this journal.

New photos are up, by the way. Enjoy them!

]]> ~Strife89 http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/17415265/ http://Strife89.deviantart.com/journal/17415265/ Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:09:16 PDT
For whatever reason, my interest in Cave Story fanart got me interested in logging on again, and it all carried itself from there. More- hopefully LOTS more- photos will be on the way, and I hope everyone who views them will like (most of) them.

]]> ~Strife89