In and Installed

I'm going to put this in big bold letters so you remember - and more importantly, so that I remember it.
OEM Hardware Does Not Come with ANYTHING!!!
We will call that Rule #1 of Building a Computer. So DJay (that is, me), remember the next time you buy anything that is appended with letters standing for Original Equipment Manufacturer that it is up to you (meaning me) to find the cables, the mounting screws, the software and the drivers to make it run. Which is what ultimately decided that my new DVD burner was going to be a swap job instead of an add-on.
The actual physical installation was a snap. I was half-afraid I would have to go in and remove the power supply in order to get the thing in. I was saved from that hassle by popping off the case's plastic front cover and sliding it out the front. I have very little good to say about Compaq (though I'm a bit kinder to them since they were bought by HP), but their cases were well-made.
So out goes the old, semi-functioning CD-RW drive and in pops the DVD burner. I fire up the Windows side, pop in a DVD (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, if you were wondering) and am promptly reminded of Rule #1. And it's corollory: if it's an upgrade, the software to use it won't be on the system restore disc.
To quote from the Windows Media Player website[1]: By default, Windows does not include a DVD decoder. "Not a big deal," I think as I follow the provided link; "I'll just download the decoder and call it good." MS offered three links for DVD playback on their WMP site: Roxio, CyberLink, and InterVideo. Get DVD playback capabilites added for $15.00.
And I thought for a second, and I decided I'd go with VLC. This free (as in Libre) video player can handle DVD natively. It can also handle pulling the video from the DVD but that's a whole other story. Only one problem, the VLC isn't a plugin, and so I have to run VLC instead of WMP, but that's not a big deal. A quick change to the context menu (changing the default action for DVDs to Open with VLC) and we're good to go. A quick press of the play button and I'm hearing the strains of So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish. Grab the universal drivers for the Lightscribe system (which uses the DVD burner's laser to engrave a label on the top of the disc) and I'm done on that side.
Now, over to the Linux side. Again, less trouble than I was expecting. Ubuntu recognized the drive as a burner, and recognized the DVD that was in it.[2] Again, I run into the same problems as on the Windows side; neither Kaffeine nor Totem could read the disc, complaining it was encrypted and that I lacked the necessary library. Totem went ahead and told me which one I needed, but couldn't tell me where to find it. By that time, it was time for me to go to work, so I've done some research. I found the driver necessary, and have installed it (I love being able to use SSH to log in at home). Now, just to be on the safe side, I haven't played it, and won't until I get home. Chel may not appreciate a DVD going off behind her back for no apparent reason (I still haven't figured out how to route the sound through the remote computer's speakers. Oh well.). We'll see if it worked first thing in the morning.


[1] MS Play CD or DVD FAQ
[2] Or, at least, the fact it was a DVD, and the volume label.

NCAA Tourney Day 1

This is one time of year I actually do enjoy watching basketball; and after one day in the NCAA Division I Championship tournament (March Madness), I am fairly impressed, and feel good that the teams I were really wanting/expecting to win did. I'm not in any pools this year; I don't have a "Bracket of Integrity", I just watch the games, and pick a team as I go.

So, a look at the headlines...
Blue Devils need last second magic to beat Belmont
It took the Dukeys the entire game to beat the 15-seeded Bruin. Down 71-70 with 4 seconds left, Belmont had the ball out of bounds under their own basket and mishandled the inbounds pass. Duke will face West Virginia (def. Arizona 75-65) early Saturday afternoon (2 pm Eastern)
No rain delay for Bulldogs, Musketeers advance
One of the best stories this year, the #14 Georgia Bulldogs had to win two games in one day in the SEC tournament to even qualify for the big dance. (The severe weather in Atlanta - don't know if they ever confirmed as a tornado - damaged the arena and forced the schedule back a day.) But the Dawgs ran out of steam against #3 Xavier, losing 73-61.
Bears Boiled
I was kinda hoping for an upset here, but 6-ranked Purdue was 11 points better than #11 Baylor. Was hoping to see a Big XII team advance here, but oh well. Purdue and Xavier are on tap for the later Saturday afternoon game.
Aggies hold off BYU
I did get my wish of a Big XII team advancing in the west regionals, but what a reward huh? As a prize for knocking off the #8 Cougars, #9 Texas A&M will face off against #1 UCLA (def. Mississippi Valley State 70-29).
Wildcats slip past Trojans
Yes, I know it was a 13-point win; but anytime #6 USC plays, the headline has to include some sort of condom reference. Except for a strech midway through the second half, #11 K-State looked really good in the upset. Beasley will play (at least) one more game for the Royal Purple, and it will be against the #3 Badgers of Wisconson.

Kansas beating Portland State doesn't even deserve a headline, though it was closer than I would have liked... they may have a hard time in Saturday's noon game against UNLV.

Games I'm keeping an eye out for today, ...
Assuming of course, that I'm 1) up and 2) in control of the remote. Both of these are fairly doubtful.
7 Gonzaga - 10 Davidson Raleigh, NC; 12:55 pm ET. Intriguing little matchup here, and another good spot for an upset. Davidson is riding a 22-game winning streak, has a better record, averages more points, and allows fewer points than the Bulldogs. Their losses? North Carolina, Duke, at UCLA, at Charlotte, at Western Michigan, and at NC State.
2 Texas - 15 Austin Peay Little Rock, AR; 3:00 pm ET. Austin Peay hasn't won a tourney game in 21 years, and I don't think that streak is going to end this year. Texas will not want to be the first #2 seed knocked off in the first round since '01; and after Duke's scare yesterday, you can bet that Texas coach Rick Barnes is gonna have his guys ready to play.
6 OU - 11 St Josephs Birmingham, AL; 7:10 pm ET. Another homer game for me. I want to see all the Big XII teams do well (because if they do well, then KU/K-State look better by comparison).
8 Indiana - 9 Arkansas Raleigh, NC; 9:40 pm ET. The late game I'm keeping an eye on because of the story surrounding it. If you didn't know, Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson resigned quite suddenly amidst allegations of recruiting violations. Pretty much the same thing he was caught doing at Oklahoma - making calls to recruits in ways that were against NCAA rules. Indiana basketball really hasn't been the same since they parted ways with Bob Knight. One thing I will say about coach Knight. You may not like him, you may not like his coaching style or interview style or on-court persona. But he did his job well, and he did it without the barest whiff of impropriety. So I take a goodly amount of Schadenfreude in IU's recent troubles. But with the resignation of Sampson, I'd like to see them do well.

A long and boring night.

Normally, having a slow night doesn't bother me much. I mean, I can usually find things to do... but in Kinsley a slow night is a slow night.
On a normal night, dispatch usually handles two officers - one PD (city) and one SO (county).[1] Sometimes on weekends, the PD sends out two, but usually it's just me, the radio, and two guys on the other end.
Tonight was a little different. Everybody (but me) went home by midnight. That's means 7 hours where it's me, the computer, and the slight chance the phone might ring. It's been a long shift.



[1] Day shift is a little busier, 1 PD and 2 SO.