Author Archives: Clay

About Clay

I'm a Data Center Operations Engineer in beautiful Charleston, SC. I'm happily married to my wonderful wife Nan and we have an teenage daughter Lela. I'm a total geek. I got into electronics when I was around 9 or 10 and got hooked on computers shortly thereafter. I also love Sci-Fi, (not fantasy) particularly Star Trek. My favorite outdoor activities include rollerblading, biking and hiking. I'm also a bit of a car guy and amateur racing driver.

Copy protection sucks!

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Doom 3 is out!!!!! Hehe.. I know what I’m doing this weekend. 🙂 Well, maybe not the whole weekend… nah, who am I kidding!

DooM ]|[
It’s been a long time coming, but Doom 3 is finally here on store shelves. I picked up a copy and though the game definitely lives up to the DooM legacy, the software leaves something to be desired. The first problem I encountered was with the included Macrovision copy protection software.

Macrovision pop-up

There are several references to this issue online (such as this one, this one, or this one) as well as one reference to it on Activision’s support site that didn’t help. Ultimately I ended up getting the no-cd crack from game burn world. Of course this is only a temporary fix until Activision/Id come out with a real patch for the game. All this time in development, you’d think they’d have tested the copy protection software a little more rigorously.

Been a while..

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Well, as you can see I’ve been pretty slack on the web updates. But, there’s been a lot going on lately.. or something like that 🙂 In the months since my last post Nan and I have been to the mountains, then to Texas to visit family. There’s been lots going on at work too. All in all a busy time, but still loads of fun. If only there were more time!

iMac modding?
In between reminiscing with Mechwarrior 3/4 over the weekend, I got fed up with the slow speed of my DV iMac. For it’s time, (circa 1999) it was quite the good little Mac. As the years have gone by and the OS’s have been wiped out and replaced by newer and more CPU hungry ones, the little Mac that could has become the little Mac that barely could. I therefore decided to attempt to overclock it. There’s some information out there on just how to do this, but unless you’re skilled at microsoldering I’d say leave well enough alone. The components you’ll have to disconnect and reconfigure are only about 1mm x 1.5mm (about the size of a few grains of sugar) and must be handled with extreme care. (not to mention the right tools) read more..

Blueberry

“I feel the need, the need for speed…”

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The MCAS Beaufort Airshow was this past weekend, and it was a blast! For a true hardware geek, there’s nothing like a huge display of military hardware, not to mention the in-flight demos. We take it for granted, but our armed services are really quite remarkable. I’ve put together a collection of photos from the event, so check ’em out.

Duct Tape Repairs All
Every once in a while, you see something people joke about, but never really believe would happen. For me this happened while I was at the airshow. I had my camera, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. If you’ve ever heard the saying “you can fix anything with duct tape” then you’ll understand this picture.

Taped Wing of C-17

The part you’re looking at is the leading edge of the left wing of a C-17 Globemaster III military cargo jet. This is a big aircraft capable of hauling troops and equipment halfway across the world. Not the type of aircraft you’d expect to see with duct tape holding something together. 🙂