Understandable standards for system and components

I love this Tech Report article on setting standards for computer systems and components, but don’t have any idea how we could make this reality.

Discrete or integrated, nobody knows what graphics solution to choose anymore. No, I’m not talking about people like you and me who actually read hardware reviews. I’m talking about the vast majority of the market, composed of regular, non-technical people who simply want to buy or upgrade a computer. That apparently simple task has become an ordeal. I mean, you know there’s a problem when even my most computer-literate friends come to me for clarification—and I often can’t help without looking at Scott’s graphs.

I confess this is even true for me, and I try to keep myself moderately well informed of what is going on in the world of graphics cards. I’m still running an nVidia 670 card in my desktop, and would love to upgrade (don’t need to, but I want to), but I don’t have the time right now to properly evaluate the current generation and make sure I get something that’s a legitimate upgrade while still maintaining a reasonable spending budget.

Skyrim best mods?

I’ve started playing Skyrim again. The kids love it. I love it. It’s just a really well-crafted game. So now I’m looking over the newest Steam Workshop mods available for Skyrim. There have been loads of good community add-ons done since I stopped playing a few months. Anyone have recommendations of the best game enhancements? I love mods which add to the atmosphere of the game, simplify gameplay, or which make small but nice tweaks to the overall game experience. I’m not looking for anything to make my characters super powerful from the beginning.

As examples of what I like and use, I have the Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers mod. I use Unread Books Glow. I find something like Towns and Villages Enhanced to be nearly mandatory. And Realistic Ragdolls and Force just makes beating enemies a tad more realistic without increasing gore and so adds a nice bit to the play. I also have a few audio/music mods to increase ambiance, and some map mods to improve the quality and usefulness of the in-game map. So with these as my primary interest, can anyone suggest some more really handy mods for the game?

Blogging burnout, returning a Blahg

Three and a half years ago, I posted a picture of the awesome and beautiful Alyson Hannigan then quietly disappeared into nothingness. I was burnt out on blogging. More specifically, I was burnt out on the deafening silence from the audience. When I started my Blah, Blah, Blahg, I did so as a way to keep track of interesting things I found online. It was for me. Then, I started getting a visit or two from the outside. I wasn’t trying to write for others, but I also wasn’t trying to hide from others what I found interested. If I wanted to do that I could easily have used del.ico.us or any similar bookmark tracking service. Continue reading “Blogging burnout, returning a Blahg”