The Lone Libertarian

This my friends is amazing.

A 11-year old girl field strips and reassembles an AR-15 in less than a minute.

Nice.

I am a serial tinkerer at heart (some call us hackers).  I like to learn how things work, tweak them, and make them work better.  Mind you, it doesn’t always happen that way.  Just ask my mom about the several household objects that I destroyed by tinkering as a child (a stereo, an old tv, a tape deck, etc).

I purchased a new computer 2 months ago and something about the case just bothered me.  The machine seemed to run hot.  A temperature of 47 C at idle seemed a little too hot for “normal.”  The video card ran at about 62 C idle.

So what do I do?  I purchase a different cooling solution for the CPU, one of those new fangled heat-pipe with alumnium fin designs.  Upon receiving the new cooler, I found that it wouldn’t fit in the case.  Rats.

One thing I did notice was that the hard drive in this cramped case was mounted an inch away from the RAM and processor (that cant be good for heat management).

I had a Coolermaster Centurian 5 case with my old machine in it, so I thought, “Gut that thing and slap the new machine in.”  Needless to say this was an endeavor that lasted until the midnight hour.

One thing I learned about this adventure was that SATA connectors are complete and utter crap (and possibly the sockets as well).  As I was unplugging my hard drive from the motherboard, pushing the release on the connector, the connector as well as the SOCKET came clean off the board.  The pins of the socket were still affixed to the board, staring at me.

This scared the CRAP out of me, and thoughts of “I just ruined my new machine” and “Why can’t I just leave stuff alone” ran through my head.  At this point, I figured if the pins were still there, I could reattach the socket somehow.

Then came issues with removing the motherboard and backplate.  PC manufacturers, PLEASE do me a favor and NEVER screw a cover over the integrated VGA port with a non-standard “star patterned” screw head.  I couldn’t remove the motherboard from the backplate, so I took and unorthodox approach and pushed the backplate out along with the motherboard.  Putting it in to the new case was a bit tricky because they were attached, but easily done.

Even more fun.  I opted to use my better Coolermaster power supply, however the two SATA power connectors it has are daisy-chained and not long enough to reach both the hard drive and the DVD drive.  Guess I’ll have to find a molex to SATA power converter this afternoon.

I broke the release on the hard drive SATA cable but finally got the connector out of the yanked-out socket (it took a TON of force). I can’t say for certain, but I think the manufacturer glued the connector to the socket, thus causing my folly.

I carefully realigned the plastic socket over the pins and pressed it down onto the board, then plugged the hard drive into it.  I hope it doesnt come loose or fall out one day when I’m doing something important.

I plugged it in to the wall and viola it works.  The larger, more roomier case ran 9 C cooler that the cramped case.  The graphics card runs 10 C cooler.  Nice.  All I need is the extra SATA power connector, and I’m back to 100%.  Gonna troll the local electronics stores this afternoon.

Yes, I’m a geek.

She’d beat them both if she was serious, I think.

Over the past several days, all you hear about on the news is this whole phenomenon surrounding failing banks and financial institutions in the wake of the “mortgage crisis.”  This is my plea to the US government to allow these institutions to fail.  Do not intervene.  Allow the robber barrons and Mr. Potters behind the sub-prime mortgage lending and speculation to learn their lesson.  If you engage in high risk activity, don’t expect to come out unscathed.

I know many people will be hurt by the failing Indymac bank, and will be subject to the maximum value the FDIC will reimburse.  However, I think even more people will be hurt if these institutions are propped and allowed to conduct business as usual.

Here are some laughable quotes from Indymac Bank CEO John Bovenzi in a statement he gave on July 13th concerning the closure of his bank:

As you know, on Friday, Indymac Bank was closed and the FDIC was appointed as receiver.  What that means is that over the weekend, we have been working to reopen the bank first thing Monday morning.  This action, on Friday was taken to protect depositors.

That’s a bunch of baloney.  Running this statement through my malarky translator it reads, “This action was taken so that you don’t strip all of our reserves.  We’d rather the federal government front the bill for your accounts.”

Our objective is to protect the bank’s value and return it to the private sector, which we plan to do in the upcoming months.  Indymac Federal Bank now has the complete support of the FDIC.  It is a strong and safe institution.

Completely laughable.  Indymac Bank is a strong and safe institution eh?  Why the hell did you have to forfeit control over to a governmental entity?  This guy is definitely a CEO, he thinks his excrement does not smell.  I wonder what his golden-parachute looks like.  This guy sounds like a jumper.

A Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout is currently being worked on in Congress.  Being the two largest mortgage-finance companies in the US, this bailout due to the subprime-mortgage disaster could end up being the largest boondoggles in US history.

One has to wonder, why hasn’t anyone been brought up on charges for the sub-prime mortgage crisis?  Why are there no witch-hunts?  You mean to tell me Martha Stewart had to decorate a concrete cell, and we have thousands of people without homes, while many of these mortgage brokers are sitting pretty?  Take note, the bankers really do run this nation, not the empty suits in Washington DC.

The Baer Sterns bailout set a bad precident.  Expect your bank executives to be just fine, while the account holders lose their savings and their homes.