The official blog of the Saved Content site

The aim of this blog is to collect and archive my selected thoughts, ideas, feelings, reactions, and opinions on subject matters that pique my interest. These entries represent initial drafts that may contain grammatical and spelling errors and whose substance and position could still change, and which, at some point, I could decide to put together into in-depth articles that will be posted on the main Saved Content and Poverty Sucks sites.

"God save us all from that evil Satanic Nazi, Paypal."

TCP/IP Not Working and Missing Settings on LAN Interface

My Desktop/Storage PC went down during a power outage.  After power was restored, I found that I couldn't surf the Internet.  I checked the LAN interface in Network Connections and found that it didn't have any TCP/IP values.  Usually, they have at least 0.0.0.0 as its IP and Subnet Mask but in this case, it was just blank.

I tried disabling and repairing the LAN network connection but its TCP/IP values were still blank.  After I tried repairing the connection, I got this message - "Failed to query TCP/IP settings for the connection."  I also tried disabling and enabling the IPX/SPX and TCP/IP protocols and then tried removing them but all that didn't work.

After a bit of research, I uninstalled all my Network adapters in Device Manager and rebooted.  My network adapter was immediately detected again after startup.  This fixed my LAN network connection and I was able to surf again.

My 8-year Old USB Optical Mouse

Almost every improvement in mouse technology has rendered older generation mice obsolete. Eventually we stop using the older mice because the newer ones are so much better. That hasn't been the case with USB optical mice since there hasn't been any sign that a new mouse innovation is on its way to replace this older mouse technology.

I'm bringing up the history of advancements in mouse technology because I had a sudden realization that my 8 year old mouse didn't seem to be in any danger of becoming obsolete. Wireless mice haven't caught on because of their need for batteries and/or charging. This is why I feel that my 8 year old USB optical mouse is still relevant and will still be in use for a few years more.

Avacus, My Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) of Choice

The Automatic Voltage Regulators or AVRs that I use for my high-value personal electronic entertainment appliances are comparably highly priced and heavy. My reason for choosing Avacus AVRs is because of their simple good looks, slim design, their single 110v and multiple 220v outlets, and their quality which is evidenced by their heavy weight.

Jensen JMR-280 AM/FM Desktop Radio with Antique Style Wood Finish

We dropped by HMR a few weeks ago to see if there were any new and interesting items. We found a brand new analog desktop radio with a faux wood finish that had an old style look but was still a modern product.

It really looked good and only cost around $17. It was made by Jensen and used 220V. Since it was cheap, good looking, and didn't need a transformer, we decided to buy it.

King's Bounty: Armored Princess Sale on Direct2Drive Summer 2010

As part of its 6th year anniversary sale, Direct2Drive has King's Bounty: Armored Princess for only $6, down from $35.

It's predecessor, King's Bounty was critically acclaimed and Armored Princess itself was well received.  It has a good degree of replayability and it was reviewed as addictive and I like the fact that your character is a woman, however, it will not work with a GMA 950 graphics chip.

How I Bought Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, the Asian version for the XBOX 360

Continued from Part 1:
How I Found Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, the Asian version for the XBOX 360

After I found Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box at Data Blitz at Park Square, I decided to buy it.  I waited a few days before I went back to Data Blitz the day before the start of the Holy Week break. I looked for the game and it was still there on the shelf. I brought it to the cash register to buy the game. I asked one last time just to make sure, if the game could play on a U.S. XBOX 360 console. This time the cashier checked and replied that she couldn't say for sure.

That stopped me cold. I asked her to verify that again so she checked and she said again that she really couldn't say for a fact that the game could play on a U.S. XBOX 360 console. My head was spinning. I was told that the game could play on a U.S. console and now they weren't so sure. Now I had my doubts whether the game was indeed region free.

How I Found Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, the Asian version for the XBOX 360

I had been looking to buy online, the Asian version of Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, but I was somewhat hesitant due to the combination of the prices and because I didn't know if it would play on my U.S. XBOX 360. I couldn't take the risk because I couldn't afford it.

Through a series of fortunate decisions and occurences, I was able to find the game locally and at a cheaper price. Even though I still wasn't 100% sure that the game could play on my XBOX 360, I put my faith on the information shown on Ebay and other online stores, took the risk, and bought the game.

Yamato Macross 1/48 Low-Visibility VF-1A Valkyrie Box Partially Eaten by Termites

Preparing to move our stuff to the new house, I just found out that the packing box containing my Yamato Macross 1/48 Low-Visibility VF-1A Valkyrie was partially eaten by termites.  The front of the box of the low-viz valk was a flip-up front lid and it was eaten away.  Luckily, the termites weren't able to eat deeper into the box because of the plastic display window behind the flip top front lid of the box.  They couldn't eat their way through plastic.

Free Citrix Study Guides from Citrixxperience

Citrixxperience, a respectable and well regarded provider of study materials for Citrix certification, is now offering all of its incredibly useful study guides and most of its excellent sample exams for free.  Previously, you could only get their products if you bought them.  Even with a price tag, these study materials were worth it and now you can get them for free.

Goodbye Original XBOX Live

On April 15, 2010, Microsoft discontinued XBOX Live support for the original XBOX (aka XBOX1).  After April 15, owners of XBOX1 games will no longer be able to download XBOX DLC and XBOX game patches from either the XBOX 360 or the old XBOX.

They also won't be able to play online multiplayer gaming sessions anymore.  XBOX 360 games will not be affected and users playing these XBOX 360 games may in fact benefit from the removal of support for the old XBOX.

Two months back, Marc Whitten, the XBOX Live general manager, announced on February 5, in an official letter to the XBOX Live community, that XBOX Live support for the original XBOX would be discontinued.

225mb Free Space Left on XBOX 360 Internal Memory After System Update

When I first got my Jasper XBOX 360 with 512mb internal memory, I discovered that the capacity of the internal memory unit was actually 451mb with 323mb free space left.  After my first system update without the hard disk attached, I found that the free space remaining went down to 225mb or around half of the internal memory capacity.

I expected this to dwindle further after the latest system update.  However, the free space of the internal memory unit remained at 225mb after the update.  This led me to believe it's currently normal to have around 225mb free space left after the latest system updates.

Change the Safe Mode Screen Resolution in Windows XP

I found that the display resolution, while in Safe Mode on my Windows XP computer, was not supported by an older monitor I switched to. After some research and troubleshooting, I was able to change the Safe Mode screen resolution by searching for the registry values "DefaultSettings.XResolution" and "DefaultSettings.YResolution" and changing the DWORD data.