wireless Windows XP 64 bit problems...

Ongoing from the graphics card problems I've (hopefully) sorted in the previous post I thought it might be useful to add some information about helping getting Windows XP 64 bit (often referred to as x64) up and running with a wireless connection.

I installed the system fine and then tried to get a Belkin F5D7050 Wireless adaptor running so I could use my current wireless connection. This is where I ran into problems. Basically the current drivers are not 64 bit compatible so you have to go through a convoluted process of finding out what chipset the adaptor has and then going to Ralink's website chipset page (who I presume manufacture the chips in most wireless adaptors) and finding the relevant 64 bit compatible drivers, for the chipset not specifically for the adaptor itself. Tip: the entries in the table on the page are links although that isn't very clear. After a lot of playing I still couldn't get it working so decided to try a WUSB54GS Wireless-G USB Network Adapter with Speedbooster. This again didnt have 64 bit drivers but some nice guy on the linksys forums has put some unofficial drivers for the adaptors on their website here.

This solved the problem and got me online fast so thanks to the chap on the forum for making them available :o)
If I find any more problems/solutions then I'll post them up here.

graphics card woes...

It's been a long time since I've posted here - blame that on learning 3D Studio Max ready for my masters course starting in January.
Anyways onto the subject in hand - namely the sapphire radeon x1950 pro graphics card. I bought one of these last week for a new PC and seemingly installed it fine. I kicked up a couple of games and within 2 minutes of playing the screen went into standby mode (black screen, no signal message) and the fan on the graphics card spun up to full noise. After lots of searching and nearly sending the card back (RMA which I presume stands for something like return to manufacturer) I found the following thread with lots of information on the card and the problem: here.

The current fix: I installed Rivatuner (http://www.guru3d.com/ - then a halfway down the right column) and went in the settings and changed the fan settings from auto to 80% (just an arbitrary figure I picked). This basically means that the fan is always running at 80% of its speed. I then kicked up a few games on the highest settings and ran them for a while. Everything now seems to run ok and the crashes have stopped.
You can actually run the rivatuner software in your system tray so it might be an idea to have 2 profiles in the settings, one for desktop use where it is set to auto and one for games where you run the fan at a high setting (e.g, 80 or 100%). This is just so that when you are browsing on the net you dont have the fan belting out noise and wearing itself out prematurely.
Another tip for people who want to go further is to actually take the default fan off the card and add a custom one. Additionally you can buy little VMU (or is it VRM) heatsinks which can be attached to the chips on the card and help dissipate the heat that builds up. The only problem with doing that is that you will invalidate your warranty so I wouldnt realistically advise this unless you know what you are doing and you dont mind losing the warranty.

current work in progress...

In Italy I decided to model some Roman busts (heads) in 3D and see if I could make them realistic. The first stages of the first head I am modelling can be seen in the gallery and is based on a member of the Brutii family. The second will be the emperor Hadrian (of Hadrians Wall fame) and will also be shown in the gallery.
More updates to follow...

married bliss...

Well not much in the way of 3D updates recently as I got married and spent a couple of weeks in Sorrento in Italy. The place was fantastic and we did all the usual tours such as climbing Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Herculaneum (like Pompeii but smaller), Rome, Napoli (Naples to us), Positano (very scenic village built down a very steep area of coast) and more.
I've now got a few good shots of some of the Roman busts (heads to you and me) and will probably have a crack at modelling them in 3D. It should be a challenge as I haven't modelled a head for a very long time...

SimplyMaya success...

Well after a year's worth of SimplyMaya challenge competitions (each runs over two months) I've managed to win one!
The challenge was to create an animation cycle (looping, e.g, a walk or run) and/or an animation sequence. First I tried to create my own animation rig for a walk cycle which is used to control your character. After a month it wasn't working too well so I switched to a free rig called Lowman (version 1.2) and started on a punch sequence using movie reference of myself punching into the air. After a long time getting the main areas animated I then went into the Maya graph editor and spent ages upon ages simplifying and smoothing off every part of the animation cycle.
I was really pleased with the final result and was surprised to win in the challenge. Anyway thanks to SimplyMaya for putting the challenges on and encouraging people to learn more about 3D :)

animation updates to gallery...

I've just finished the latest SimplyMaya challenge which was to create an animation cycle/sequence. It's only the second animation I've tried but it was great fun! Check out the 3D gallery page for the results.

Plone howto's and quick help tips...

If you use or are learning to use Plone (Open Source Content Management System) and like me need to remember how to set things up again many months later then you might find my plone tutorials helpful. Each tutorial listed has at some point been encountered by myself. They 'may' apply to plone on Solaris, Linux (Suse) and Windows as I have installed on each of those systems.
Any problems, pointers or help then contact me via my feedback form

similar music links...

Want to find music similar to what you are listening to or what other people that are into your music style listen to?
Head on over to last.fm where you can sign up (no email required!), download a plugin for your music program and let it record the stats for what you're listening to. You can then take it from there.

MMO browser game anyone?...

If you have a little time to spare every day to play an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game that is browser-based and wont take ages to learn about then head on over to http://www.travian.com.
Its a little like a simplified age of empires but everybody on there is human and from all over the world. You can build resources up and trade, wage war and even form alliances that will help you become stronger and stronger.
Check it out for some cool fun - it starts slow but gets faster the longer you play.

eve-online corporation website...

If you play eve-online and are interested in joining an up and coming corporation then check out http://eve.bichirs.info.
We also provide websites for any corporations that dont have the web skills but still wants an online presence.

More tutorials...

I've just moved some more of the older tutorials I had on the previous site over. They are in the Apache, CVS and SSH tutorial links. Soon I'll have my Plone based research to add up for people who might need some help with that.
Finally I've added a couple of links to my friend's sites. Check out the Simplebytes link for a new free CMS (Content Management System) that is being developed and is after beta testers.

3D jobsite links...

Check out the 3D links page for a listing of some sites which specialise in 3D jobs. I found them whilst looking into what jobs are available and what skills are required (for when I have enough work for a showreel)

Online portfolio available at cgsociety...

I just found out that you can create an online portfolio of your work on the cgsociety.org website. It allows you to post upto 5 portfolio images for free and if you are a paying subscriber then the amount is unlimited. My portfolio contains some of what is already on this site but is available at: http://t1ck135.cgsociety.org

miscellaneous update...

Just added some old/miscellaneous 3D work into the site. The older ones I hope to go back to and improve with the new skills I've learned.

2D update...

I've just updated my 2D section with some life drawing sketches from the past six months. It's still raw as I've not done any for about ten years but hopefully it'll start improving ;o)

Welcome...

Hello and welcome to my personal website. Feel free to have a look in the 3D section for my latest work and the other sections for older stuff. More bits and bobs will be coming soon.

Btw this is the first test posting to my blog at blogspot.com and is an xml feed from there. Hopefully it will work ok but I will be creating a local cached version for if blogspot slows down (which I've noticed a fair bit).

Anyways there will be more updates on the site and the design as I progress.

Si