|
chibismrtyazzian
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Ming-Yen
Country: United States
State: California
Metro: San Bernardino
Birthday: 4/15/1985
Gender: Male
Interests: Anime, Computers, WoW, MtG
Expertise: Web design, Programming, Making bad jokes, Sleeping in
Occupation: Student
Industry: Computers (Software)
Message: message me
Member Since:
8/22/2003
|
|
| I leave Xanga for something else (go Facebook?) and I come back to see a whole new Xanga. I like the new interface... but maybe it was because the change in interface is completely different from the old one that it took me 2 hours to find how to make a new entry... Which, as thus, brings me to writing about what a difficult time I had to make this entry. Am I just old, or do I just suck that bad?
| | |
|
 | | |
| So I've begun working at Zalman USA as a part-timer, and it's been great. I've spent a whole day installing games and playing them already, and it's unlike any other job I've had before. The thing is, there are those times where you'd get a strange story that makes you want to laugh at just how ridiculous people can be. This is one of those stories.
So I was instructed one day to test out a system. It was returned to us by an unsatisfied customer who bought the Zalman TNN 500AF system with all the components built in. While it looks rather satisfactory at the very least, the customer said it was unusable. Curious, I attempted to boot up the system, which resulted in a series of loud beeps, calling the nervous attention of my "superiors", Jon and Richard. While debugging the system to figure out why it is giving these beeps, we found the error the motherboard is telling us does not exist in the manual.
"9F? What's 9F?!" asked Richard while flipping through the manual pages. "Am I reading it wrong? Could it be 6? Please tell me it's 6 or I'll f***ing kill you."
"Uhh... No, Richard. It's still 9F. You confirmed it yourself." I replied. "Don't kill the messenger, man."
"Yeah, well this is stupid. Jon! Look up what 9F stands for!"
After waiting for the long anxious minute to pass by, Jon finally delivered the "new" verdict. "Dude man... There is no 9F error on the website either. Are you sure it's 9F?"
"Yeah, it's 9 f***ing F. What the hell!"
Pacing about for a few more minutes, Richard made the final executive decision: "Tear it apart. We'll salvage whatever parts we can still use, but this computer's useless to us now. The motherboard's probably dead. =(" (Yes, he did say "=(". Don't ask me how.)
As such, I set myself down upon the task of disassembling the now useless TNN 500AF system, much to my sorrow. It was a beautiful system, all black and shiny. While it was heavy set, it had wheels upon which we can roll it, and handles on the top to help facilitate that action. The side of the case swivels out like a door, allowing you access to the sweet insides without having to worry about losing those troublesome screws. And the inside was the most beautiful fanless cooling system I have ever seen (not to mention the only one I had seen as of then, but that's besides the point). I brushed away tears as I took the brutal instrument we call a screwdriver to loosen all the screws and remove all the parts. Taking out the video card, I gave a low sigh at the memory of its sexy graphics processing (not that I had actually seen it in action, but more of the thought of it). Removing the cooling parts, I sobbed at its utter lack of noise (to those who do not know: fans are actually one of the biggest causes of noise within a system. Even though there may be companies out there who claim their fans to be noiseless, it's false. You can make very quiet fans, like the Zalman CNPS9500A LED, which works like a charm as long as you use an Intel chip from what I remember Jon telling me, but you cannot get noiseless. If you want a noiseless cooling system, you're only gonna see heat sinks and the such. Even water cooling systems make some noise due to the fact they have to use a pump to circulate the cold water throughout the system). Finally, I reached the last component of the computer before I disassembled the motherboard: the processing unit (aka the CPU, aka the brains of the computer, aka the big daddy of all things right in the system, aka ... you get the point). As I took out the cooling component, I felt that something was wrong. Lifting up the heavy piece of metal, I discovered this:
 That's right. Our processor was a simple piece of cardboard, cut out from a cardboard box that was originally a shipping box for some Zalman accessory. And so as I revealed to Jon and Richard our Processor of Hopes and Dreams (© 2007, Richard Chung), all our pain and frustration lead to a singular moment of enlightenment.
(Note: I have taken a huge creative license to this story. While the truth of this event is real, a few bits of information may have been skewed to create a more dramatic feeling. So no, I did not really cry over tearing apart the computer. But yes, Richard does say "I'll f***ing kill you ...". A lot. But only to me and Jon.)
| | |
|
