Nodwick has a cute cat pictures page. How cool is that?

On the plus side, I have beaten my new graphics card into submission (ie, reread the install manual and messed with wires to conect it to the power supply (dude, wtf? There's even a tiny little fan on top of its chip.)) and have managed to get NWN2 running. Teh questing, it is so shiny. (My computer refuses to go into standby mode, so I have a feeling the card is kinda selfish concerning power. Just means I have to remember to start turning my computer off when I get away from it for more than an hour.)

So I picked up Neverwinter Nights 2. (Pre-order discounts aren't as good as waiting around a couple years for the game to half its price, but I want to play *now*.) I don't pay close attention to its sysreqs, because I already know my graphics card is four years old and doesn't play new games well. (See, I had that problem with Indigo Prophecy, but it would still run, so the reason I don't like IP isn't because of the way it sometimes lags, but the way they've designed their game mechanics. I don't play FPS, and I'm not about to start playing any other game that doesn't offer you the choice of using a mouse to point and click, instead of wandering around the room using the number pad, hoping you don't miss anything important. Which is sad, because the game story is supercool. If anyone's at all interested in it, I can send you my copy.) I wasn't expecting the run program to tell me it couldn't find a compatible Direct3D client. (It installs the game, and then says I can't play? Don't these games have computer-checking software before I spend an hour installing?)

So I'm going "I think that's something to do with graphics card" but really, I've got no idea because I know more about chainsaws than I do computer hardware. Then I get to thinking- maybe my computer's just getting too old (but it's a Pentium 4. Don't they still make those?), so I head over here to find out if there's something else my computer is lacking in. Except I have no idea what the difference is between the 1.79GHz my CPU has, and the 2GHz CPU the game requires. (The only other thing being my graphics card that is an issue. It's a GeForce 2, which while spiffy back when I got it, is getting a little old. But seeing as how I've run other games that require a better graphics card (ie- KotOR2), I'm thinking maybe it's just I need to update the driver. I've never heard of Direct3D. Could be new, and I only update that stuff when the thought hits me. (Every other year or so.)) So now I'm off to figure out what the deal is with gigahertz. Maybe it's the speed of the computer?

Whee. I can change out a DSL modem with a cable modem in half an hour. (Don't tell Pug it took me ten minutes to notice I forgot to plug in the power cord for the router...) And it only took restarting my computer three times. (Which was primarily me being in the habit of restarting my computer every time I restart the cable modem.)

(Also, there are now, like, fifteen wires behind the television. The OCD person in me wants to straighten it up right now, but the lazy person in me succeeded in the 'eh, whatever, just make sure the TV hides most of it' plan.)

Roscoe supervised the installing of the modem. It was more like 'Ooh, plastic noises! Ooh, stringy things! Ooh, twist-ties! Play now!' with his nose six inches from whatever it was I was doing, up until Lee got annoyed and exiled him to the bathroom. And then the serenade of the tortured cat began. Because, dastardly fiend that Lee is, she had separated him from us! And him only eighteen months old. He was traumatized. (So was my cat. She kept staring at the bathroom door.)

Only get through channel nineteen on our cable TV. I'm going to spend all of tomorrow refraining from calling Lee to see if she's fixed it yet, because come hell or high taxes, I'm watching Eureka, and it airs on Tuesdays. (Which is weird, because I'm still used to being addicted to Friday Sci-Fi shows and haven't quite adjusted (which is perfectly normal, seeing as how Eureka is new, and tomorrow will be all of episode three).) I've been spending Tuesdays at the folkses. (I've turned down dinner for it. Admittedly it was also my mother's birthday...)

Lee got a call from someone named Ruth, who I'm guessing is the one she's visiting in October, as pillows were mentioned, and geez, I thought online friends were like invisible friends. Real only to you, not real as in reality.

Lee spent a lot of time yesterday trying to change her mood theme. Not just to the bouncing stars and gray kitties. Even I can figure that out. I'm talking personalized, 'you had to upload all the damn things yourself' mood theme.

We never got it to work. I would've kept at it- but she wanted to eat, and had been trying to get me to help decide where to go for the previous three or so hours.

Helping her try to get it to work got me wanting to try it for myself. Admittedly her Shakespeare images- should she decide against the Sin City mood theme she originally wanted and couldn't find- are cooler than mine. But I like Star Wars. And Dark Jedi are hot.

...

...

Er, yeah.

Further musings you never wanted to hear from the non-coder monkey.

Have been obsessed with finishing KOTOR for the past week or so. Blame Liz. She's the one who took over my computer to play. (If I weren't at work when she was playing, I'd point and laugh as she yet again runs in tiny circles trying to get around minions who keep getting in the way.) Normally I wouldn't be so interested in finishing a game as fast as possible. (For example, I never managed to get out of chapter three or whatever of NWN. Sprawling place is good, annoying the gamer with far too many 'fetch' tasks is not.) But I got interested in playing Dark Side. (Pug mentioned it had a better ending and I wanted to see for myself. Personally, I liked the LS movie more than the Nazi-esque rally in worship of my Sith self. Though the idea of crushing the Republic in an iron grip is better than cheap jewelry, flowery words, and a 'get out of jail free' card for something I have no memory of.)

( Continued KOTOR babble )